Destiny's Twilight
by Hawkflower
Summary: The experience of the many Kingdom Hearts characters through high school. They struggle with a lot of aspects of teenage life.
1. Roxas: First Day

*Roxas*

As soon as the beeping started, I slapped my hand against the stupid alarm clock. I heard something fall to the carpeted floor and land with a soft _thud_. I slowly opened my eyes and was immediately blinded by the bright sun.

_Why did I leave that open last night?_ Then I remembered. I like to look at the stars when I fall asleep. Fine, call me crazy, but it's just what I do.

"Roxas, are you awake?" A voice called.

"Yeah, be right out," I groggily replied. _That's funny. Dad's never home until late at night and leaves early in the morning. Why is he home today?_

I quickly got dressed and ran to the kitchen to grab my breakfast – a piece of jelly-covered toast.

I ran into the den to grab my backpack and go when I noticed someone standing in the room with me.

"Oh yeah, Dad, why are you home today? I mean, I don't mind, but I thought you'd be at work," I said.

Dad smiled at me kind of funny before answering, "Just wanted to be here for your first day of school." His smile got funnier –but not in a good way.

"Dad, I'm _fifteen_. I'll do okay today." _Oh man, he better not walk me to school._

"Yes, but this is different! This is _Destiny Islands_, son!"

"And…?" I asked, waiting for Dad's weird response.

"This is different; starting life over after living for fifteen years in one place!"

"Dad, we moved here a few weeks ago. I already have friends." I said, shoving a jacket into my backpack. Dad wouldn't know about Hayner, Pence, or Olette because he was at work constantly, too busy to deal with _my_ life. "I gotta go, Dad. School's gonna start soon," I hastily said. "See ya." Then I walked out the door, slamming it behind me.

I ran as fast I could, just in case Dad decided to walk with me after all. When I finally decided it was safe to, I turned around. He wasn't there. Thank goodness.

"S'up Roxas! You made it, I see!" Hayner said, high-fiving me.

"Hi, Roxas!" Olette waved.

"Hey, Roxas!" Pence smiled.

"Hi guys," I replied, smiling. These were my friends, and I couldn't wait to spend time with them again.

"So, we're finally here; 10th grade!" Olette nervously giggled.

"Man, Olette, it's not that much different from last year, right?" Hayner asked nonchalantly.

"Roxas, Hayner, how can you two be so calm? Especially you, Roxas, you just moved here and you're not nervous? How?" Olette was starting to shout, obviously panicking.

"Calm down, Olette," Pence laughed.

"Maybe I _am_ nervous, but don't know it," I suggested.

"Roxas, you're so bizarre," Olette laughed. I shrugged in response.

The four of us continued to chat, passing time. When the bell finally rang, we all exchanged goodbyes and parted separate ways.

Turned out I had first period with Hayner. He threatened to me that if we did not, he would've killed me. And I sort of had believed him.

Hayner stopped outside the class to look at something, so I went in without him. I chose my seat. It was towards the middle, but on the outside, by the windows.

A pretty brunette girl sat down in the chair next to mine. I noticed her immediately, but pretended not to. Her bright blue eyes seemed confident, ready to take on any challenge life brought to her.

Suddenly, Hayner ran into the room, and went to take the seat next to me. When he saw the pretty girl in the chair next to mine, he glared at her, but took the seat behind me. He began to poke me with pencils –sharpened pencils.

"Hayner, _stop it_!" I hissed, turning around. In the corner of my eye, I saw the girl turn to look at us, and I also saw Hayner smirk at her.

"What're you lookin' at, Kairi?" Hayner asked the girl sarcastically.

"Well, Hayner, I'm looking at you annoying the new kid," the girl –Kairi? - said. "You should stop before the teacher comes in."

"Why? Who's our teacher?" Hayner asked, looking bored.

"For this period, our teacher is Saїx," Kairi told Hayner, obviously annoyed.

"Saїx? You're kidding, right? That guy nearly killed me last year!"

"Yeah, I know. You were in my class –_again_."

Suddenly, the door clicked shut. All the students immediately sat up and faced front. I did the same.

At the front of the class stood a tall, blue-haired man wearing glasses; obviously, this was Saїx. He had a large, X-shaped scar on his face. He wore an outfit similar to our own school uniforms, except his had black instead of blue.

"Hello, class. Most of you I have had before, but there is a new face or two," Saїx began his classroom greeting. I felt my new face go red. "Now, onto the rules. I don't like to repeat them for every class, so I have a chart, just like last year. Now, if you'd care to read it, you most likely won't get in trouble."

_This guy _is_ scary. No wonder everyone freaked out and stiffened up when he came in!_ Suddenly, Saїx stared at me. "You, new boy," he said, pointing at me.

"Yes?" I asked, but my voice caught in my throat, so it sounded like a whisper.

"Stand up and come to front of the class." _Oh. My. Gosh. I'm dead. And it's only first period. I hope this day only gets better…_

After I'd done what he'd told me to, I stood there in silence while Saїx examined me. He examined my uniform: a white, button-up, short-sleeved shirt, a pair of navy blue pants, black sneakers, and a navy blue blazer.

"What is your name?" Saїx suddenly asked.

"Uh, Roxas," I said. I quickly added a loud, "Sir!" Saїx chuckled.

"Are you from around here?"

"No, I just moved to Destiny Islands a few weeks ago with my dad, sir."

"Hm. You seem very familiar. Did he have a job transfer?"

"Uh, I'm not really sure. We don't talk much, sir." By now, my voice was a whisper. _No, no, no. I will _not_ cry in front of all these people that don't know me!_

"Thank you. You may sit down now, Roxas." I looked up at him in disbelief.

"Um, okay, sir." Saїx laughed again.

Kairi and Hayner stared at me as I sat down.

"I can't believe it! Saїx actually _likes_ you. He _hates_ everyone else!" Kairi whispered to me as I sat down.

I laughed. "Yeah, right. It's probably just a show because I'm new."

Hayner punched me. "No, it's not. He _hates _new kids more than anything."

"Hayner, Kairi, did you say something?" Saїx asked, staring at the two with cold, hard eyes.

"Roxas!" Kairi said after class. "Just give it up! He likes you. Use it to your advantage!"

"Yeah, right, Kairi. Everyone'll be jealous," Hayner argued.

"Oh, well. I can live out my dreams through Roxas!"

"Nuh-uh. If Roxas listens to anyone, it'll be _me_. I've known him since the day after he moved here."

"What does that matter? I'm sure Roxas likes me better!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, he didn't hang out with you throughout summer vacation!"

_Gosh, will you two shut up already? I'm getting sick of this!_

"Fighting already, Kairi? It's only been an hour," a deep voice from behind me teased.

"Well, I guess that means I know people," Kairi said, crossing her arms across her chest.

The guy with the deep voice laughed. "Who's the new kid?" he asked, obviously talking about me.

"Oh! Riku, meet Roxas. Roxas, this is Riku," Kairi said, turning me around to face Riku.

Riku looked older than the rest of us. He was taller, and looked stronger. He had long, white-blond hair and bright blue-green eyes. He had a nonchalant look on his face, and stared at me.

"Hey," he finally said, holding out his hand.

"Hey," I answered, shaking his outstretched hand.

"Riku and I have been friends since we were little kids. We grew up here on Destiny Islands playing together with our friend, Sora," Kairi said, smiling.

"Yeah, one day she washed up on the shore, and we took her in. I've gotta get going; see you around sometime," Riku said as he walked off.

"What grade is he in?" I asked.

"Eleventh," Kairi answered, confirming my thoughts.

"He does seem a lot older than that."

"He seems that way, but he's a big goofball." Kairi smiled. Obviously, she and Riku were really close. Who was this Sora kid she talked about? Another eleventh grader?

"C'mon, Roxas, we gotta get going!" Hayner said, pulling me back into reality, out of my thoughts. I nodded, and ran after him.


	2. Xion: The New Kid

*Xion*

School just seemed so . . . empty today. Everything that happened seemed practiced. There were the empty, non-caring hellos, the faked waves and hugs. Yet, it all looked so real.

I was afraid that everyone would be empty and phony today, until I saw him. Everything about him was spontaneous and real. He let off a light that seemed to draw people to him. But guess what? So did the popular, pretty girl standing next to him.

The boy's blond hair was spiky, and he had bright blue eyes – just like me! I knew who the girl was, though. Everyone did. Everyone knew Kairi. Pretty, popular and sweet, who couldn't love her? Every girl jealous of her. Which included me.

I liked the boy –he seemed interesting. However, he was already friends with Kairi, meaning he must be popular material.

Me? I was definitely not popular. The only people that knew I existed at school were the teachers. That was only because the lowest score I'd ever gotten on a test was 95%. They loved me.

Sure, I'd tried to fit in. I'd talked to Sora once, but he just said hi and left to go hang out with Kairi and Riku. Occasionally, I'd talked to Axel, who just laughed at anything and everything. We had something close to a friendship, though.

I couldn't wait to get home.

"Yo, Xion," someone called my name.

I turned around. "Axel!" I said, surprised.

"That's me," he said. "Feel up to ice cream?" He didn't wait for me to answer, but walked off. I laughed and ran after him.

"What kind?" I asked after I caught up with him.

"Sea salt," he responded. Then smirking, he said, "Got it memorized?"

I nodded, laughing again. Axel and I always had ice cream together afterschool, but lately, something had seemed missing. We always climbed a certain tree on the beach to eat ours. We had done this for several years now, though no one knew but us. Recently, though, it had seemed empty. Almost like we were missing someone, but that couldn't be it.

I bit into the salty-sweet ice cream.

"What's wrong?" Axel asked. I looked up, confused. "You've been different today. What's wrong?" He bit into the ice cream himself, looking at me.

"Oh." It came out, barely a whisper.

"C'mon, you can tell me. What's bothering you?"

"It's nothing. It's stupid."

"Well, it's important enough to bother you," Axel pointed out.

"Today, something seems weird. Like we're missing something," I said.

Axel threw back his head and laughed. "So you noticed?" he asked.

"What?" I was confused.

"That Roxas kid, he's interesting."

"What? What do you mean?" Apparently, Axel knew something I didn't.

"He's new around here, right?" I nodded. "And yet, he's already friends with Kairi. Isn't that something?"

"That's exactly what I thought!" I exclaimed. _So his name is Roxas._ "Anyways, since when do you care what Kairi does?"

Axel scoffed. "I don't." I silently took a bite of my ice cream. I didn't question Axel. He was two years older than me, but only in the eleventh grade. He failed a grade, though he won't admit which one.

"Axel?" I asked.

"Hmm?" he replied, his mouth full of ice cream.

"After you graduate, will you still meet up with me for ice cream?" I asked.

"That's two whole years away, Xion. I don't wanna think about my future!"

"I just realized that after you graduate, I'll be all alone."

Axel went silent. He knew it was the truth, too. Unless a miracle occurred, I would be all alone. For an entire year.

Axel sighed. "You want me to fail another year for you? We could even have some classes together."

"No," I said. "You should try to pass classes this year, not just scrape by like you usually do."

I could hear the smirk in his voice as he said, "Fat chance."

I hung my book bag up on its hook, and dropped myself onto my bed. _Today was exhausting. Hopefully tomorrow's better._

I could hear laughter from my roommate's room. She was probably on her phone, as she often was.

We didn't have to worry about bills until we were both sixteen, and could get jobs. Her parents were rich, and sent us enough money for bills and food.

I looked through the handouts I had been given in class and sighed. Advanced classes were such hard work.

_Wait, isn't Roxas in two of my classes?_

I got an idea. I quickly got a pen and a sticky note to write it down as a wide smile spread across my face.


	3. Olette: Accident

***Olette***

"Hayner, wait up!" I called, running to catch up with him. He was running down the hall, but stopped and turned around when I called him.

"What do you want?" he asked, obviously grumpy.

"What's wrong?"

"What's _wrong_? You wanna know what's _wrong_, Olette?"

"Uh, yeah, I think."

"Roxas is hanging out with Kairi!"

"What's wrong with that?" I was confused now.

"He's gonna be popular!" Hayner was really angry now.

"Good for him!"

"No. He's gonna forget about us!"

"Hayner, you don't know that. I don't think Roxas is the type of person who would do that," I said, concerned that Hayner had given up on Roxas so easily.

Hayner stared at me. "If you were given a chance to be absolutely popular by Sora, Riku, or Kairi, wouldn't you take it?"

"Well…"

"Be honest, Olette!"

"I dunno."

"Let me rephrase that. Who would you choose: me and Pence, or Kairi, Riku, and Sora?"

"You guys, of course!" I practically shouted, then looked around to see if anyone had heard. Thankfully, it seemed no one had.

"Honestly?"

"Yes! I've been friends with you two for a few years. Popularity can't come between us! Why would you even think that, Hayner?" Hayner had to know that nothing could break us apart, right?

"Okay. Just forget I said anything, Olette," Hayner was quiet now, and he seemed to be deeply thinking.

"Okay," I smiled. Apparently, Hayner had regained faith in our friendship.

I sat on a bench after school, eating ice cream with Pence and Hayner. It had been a boring day overall, but the first day of school always was.

Tidus and Wakka were playing ball. Selphie sat on the sidelines, reading a book. Everyone was slowly slipping out of the summer spirit. We all didn't want to let go of summer, and go back to studying and tests.

"What do we do now? I'm so bored…" Hayner asked. I looked at him and I could see he was half-asleep.

"Well, you eat your ice cream before you fall asleep," Pence laughed.

Suddenly, a shape flew towards us at an alarming speed. I screamed and ducked, covering my head with my hands. I heard the object smack into somebody.

Hayner jumped up, clutching his eye in one hand, a baseball in his other. I noticed his ice cream was on the ground.

"HEY, WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA HERE?" Hayner screamed.

I could see Tidus and Wakka trying not to laugh as Tidus yelled, "Sorry! Can you throw it back?"

"Oh, I'll throw it back, you-" He wound up his arm for a hard and fast pitch.

"Hayner, don't!" I yelled. He stopped in his tracks and looked at me.

The baseball dropped to the ground as Hayner fell backwards onto the bench.

"Hayner! Are you okay?" Pence stood up, now worried.

"Look!" I gasped, pointing at the baseball. "It's covered in blood!"

"We have to get him to hospital, Olette. You call the ambulance," Pence was unusually calm for such a bad situation.

"Okay," I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket, and immediately called the ambulance. I could feel myself shaking, and I suddenly realized how scared I was.

As I was on the phone, I watched Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie come over and worry over Hayner as Pence tried to calm them down.

"Will he be okay?" I asked the doctor as soon as he came out of the room Hayner was laying in.

"He should be. I called his parents, and they're coming down here. He has a mild concussion, and might be blind in his right eye for a while. Stay close to him and don't let him do anything stupid, okay?" The doctor told me.

"Okay, we will. Thank you," I smiled at the doctor, who walked away.

"You realize this is all your fault, right, Tidus?" Wakka asked, giving Tidus a smug look.

"What? No? You threw the ball!" Tidus argued.

"Yeah, but you batted late, and the ball flew at Hayner. Your fault."

"It was an accident, I swear!" Tidus bowed to me, and I could tell he was serious.

"Yeah, I know. Just be sure to tell Hayner's parents that when they get here, okay?" I said to Tidus, who suddenly looked horrified.

"H-his _parents_? They'll never believe me!"

"We'll never believe what?" A woman asked, looking confused. Tidus screamed and hid behind me.

"Hello, I'm Hayner's friend Olette, and this is Pence, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie," I said, gesturing to each of them in time. "Tidus wanted to apologize for what he did to your son."

"I'm sorry! I really didn't mean to do it! Please don't hurt me!" Tidus was now on the brink of tears. I was on the brink of hysterical laughter.

"Hayner has really bad luck. He's always getting into things he shouldn't," A man I assumed was Hayner's father said.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Tidus was really relieved.

"Thank you, young lady, for bringing him here," Hayner's dad said to me.

"Oh, no! All I did was call the ambulance. Pence, here, was the one who stayed calm and directed the situation. Thank him, not me!" I said.

"Thank you, Pence," Hayner's mother smiled.

"You two should head home. It's really late," Hayner's dad said.

"Okay. It was nice meeting you guys!" Pence said and we began to walk off.

"Uh-huh!" I added my agreement.

The last thing I saw before the elevator doors closed were Hayner's parents waving to us.


	4. Hayner: A Strange Girl

*Hayner*

When I woke up, I was in a new place with a whole bunch of stuff sticking out of my skin.

"Huh? Where am I?" I asked aloud, not expecting anyone to answer.

I looked around the room, realizing I was in a hospital, and I saw a small girl sitting in a chair next to my bed, just staring off to the side. She wasn't staring at anything. She was just staring, lost in the clouds.

The girl was blonde with bright blue eyes. She was sitting, resting her chin in her hand, and her elbow was supported by her knee. She wore a baby blue dress, and white sandals. She couldn't be more than seven years old.

"Who are you?" I asked, staring at the girl.

She seemed to come back to Earth, and smiled at me. "You're awake?" she asked.

"Well, yeah. Who are you?" I asked again.

"Oh, I'm just someone. I'm so glad I got to meet someone from here!" She sounded excited.

"Oh. Hi. My name is-"

"Hayner. I know all about you. You're Olette and Pence's friend, right?"

"How do you know that stuff about me?" I wanted to get angry at the girl, but I guess I was drugged or something.

"I know all about everyone," she stated, looking away. "Some people call me a witch." She sort of smiled.

"Well, why are you here?" I asked, curious.

"I wanted to meet you. You're interesting. You get angry so fast. It's funny!" She giggled.

"Well, I don't think it's funny," I stated, glaring at the girl.

"But it is! Like when you got hit with the ball and you screamed at Tidus and Wakka!" She giggled again.

"Well, what else was I supposed to do? That hurt. They hit me in the eye!"

The girl doubled over, laughing.

I frantically reached up to my eye, but my hand was cushioned. _An eye patch? How badly was I hurt?_

Suddenly the girl stopped laughing, stood up straight, and looked around.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, I think I have to go soon. She'll get angry. I wasn't supposed to leave!" Now she was standing.

"What do you mean?"

"I just get so bored! I have so many things to play with, but no one to play them with." She began to back up, towards the wall.

"Are you okay? Do I need to call anyone?"

"I'm fine, unless I get caught. I hope I can meet you again, Hayner. It was nice seeing you. Goodbye," she said, and then walked backwards into a purple portal-ish thing in the wall that closed after she went through it.


	5. Roxas: A Trip To the Hospital

*ROXAS*

"Hayner _what? _I asked as Olette told me what happened yesterday after school.

"He got hit in the eye with a ball by Tidus. We all went to the emergency room, and he's still in the hospital," Olette explained, frowning.

"Dang, I hope he gets better soon," I said.

"Me, too. His parents showed up."

"His parents? What are they like?" It kinda surprised me that Hayner _had_ parents, to be honest.

"Well, his mom's actually really pretty, and his dad seems really nice. They didn't blame any of us! They blamed Hayner."

"Really? Did he have an older brother there?" I asked.

"Hey, Roxas," Pence said, coming up behind me and Olette. We turned around to face him.

"Yeah? What's up?" I said.

"This girl here wants to ask you something," Pence said, gesturing to a girl standing next to him. She was about my age, with short, black hair and bright blue eyes. She seemed shy, staring at the ground.

"Hi there," I said, waving.

The girl looked up, and then jerked her head back down. "Hi," she whispered.

"I'm Roxas. Who are you?" I asked, trying to get her to talk.

"Hi, Roxas. I – I'm Xion. I'm in a few of your classes. Do you recognize me?" she asked, looking at my face.

"Uh, sorta." _No, I don't._

"Well, those are advanced classes, and I was just wondering if… if maybe you might need me to t-tutor you?" Her words were short and shaky. They seemed forced.

"I'm in advanced classes? What? Since when?" I asked, honestly surprised.

"Uh, since you started school here," she said, blushing.

"Aw, man. I think I might need a tutor. How much do you cost?"

"An A."

"What?"

"If I fail, and you don't get an A, I'll work for free. But if you get an A, that's your payment," Xion said, now smiling.

"What? Alright, deal," I said and held out my hand, smiling. Xion smiled, seeming to brighten up completely, and firmly shook.

"She seemed _really_ happy when you let her tutor you, Roxas," Pence said.

"I'm happy I get a tutor for _free_," I said. Pence and Olette laughed.

We were all hanging out at the park by Hayner's house, wasting time. We sat at the top of the playground. Occasionally, little kids running by would stop and stare at us before they continued running by.

"Man, I wonder how Hayner's doing," I said, staring at the sky. I felt bad for the guy.

"Hey, I know!" Olette stood up.

"What?"

"Let's go visit Hayner! I'm sure he's lonely, and Roxas, you haven't seen him yet, have you?" I shook my head. "Let's go!"

"Okay," I said, standing up. Olette ran off, and Pence and I followed her.

Once we got to the hospital, I immediately wanted to leave. I hate hospitals. They just smell and look weird.

"This should be his room, right here," Olette informed us, pointing at a closed door in front of us that looked like any other in this long hall.

Before Olette could open the door, it was pulled open, and a boy with black hair and hateful eyes quickly walked past us.

"Who was that?" I asked after he had passed.

Olette looked worried as she said, "I have no idea."

"Me neither," added Pence.

"C'mon, he was wearing our school uniform. At least _one_ of us has to know him," I said.

Olette frowned, and Pence shrugged.

"Oh, well. Let's see Hayner."

We walked into his room, and I gasped. Hayner lay on the hospital bed, seemingly lifeless. He had wires and tubes sticking out of his arms, and a thick eye patch on his right eye.

"Is he…dead?" I asked, scared.

Olette shook her head. "The doctor said he has a concussion."

"He should be fine in a while. He's just sleeping, don't worry," Pence said. I gulped. How couldn't I worry?

"Pence?" a weak voice called.

"Yeah? I'm here," Pence answered, walking over to Hayner.

"Why are you here? Did we have homework?"

"Nah. We're just here to see you. Roxas is here, too."

"Really? Where's Kairi? Is she here?"

"No…why?"

"Oh, never mind."

"See, Hayner? I told you that Roxas isn't bad," Olette lectured.

"Whatever. I'm in the hospital, don't nag me," Hayner said.

"Are you alright? I thought you were dead when I first came in," I confessed.

"Do I look alright to you? I've got a blind eye, and look at these things sticking out of my arms!"

"Calm down, it's not his fault!" Olette cried.

"It's not mine either," Hayner muttered.

"Hayner?" I asked.

"_What?_" he snapped.

"Who was that guy that was just in here?"

"There was someone in here?" Hayner sounded surprised.

"Yeah, he had black hair, and he looked really ticked," I explained.

Hayner paused before saying, "I don't know anyone like that."

"Neither do Olette or me," Pence chimed in.

Neither did Kairi, Sora, Riku, Selphie, Tidus, or Wakka.

Who was this guy?

What was he doing in Hayner's hospital room?


	6. Axel: College

*AXEL*

"_Axel!_" the teacher yelled at me from across the room.

"What?" I asked, snapping out of my daydreams.

"Geez, Axel, if you keep this up, you won't graduate. Ever. Anyways, tell me how to solve this problem, please."

"Well, I can't tell you that."

"Well, then, why not?"

"The answer's 5. X=5."

The teacher looked me straight in the eye before saying, "Yes, that's correct."

_I can work. I just prefer not to. Therefore, everyone assumes I'm lazy. I don't really mind._

Some kid beside me gave me a dirty look that I could see out of the corner of my eyes. When I turned to him, I saw Riku sitting a few seats down, paying attention, taking notes.

_Riku's serious about graduating, huh? With all passing grades, at that._

The bell rang. I gathered my stuff together and walked out, backpack slung over one shoulder.

Riku came up to me and began walking alongside me. It was silent for a long time until he asked, "How did you figure out that problem? It was hard."

"Not really. Just go through the basic steps," I said. "There's just a lot of steps to keep up with."

"If you tried, you could get into advanced classes and get into a good college in another place, another world," Riku said.

"Not happening."

"Why not?"

"I'm perfectly happy here."

"Really? I don't believe that. There's a girl, isn't there?"

"Axel!" A girl called. Riku and I stopped walking.

"What did I tell you?" Riku said as I saw Xion calling me and waving.

"Okay, maybe there is. She's not gonna be able to make it on her own, okay? Maybe after she graduates, we can both go to college," I admitted.

Xion ran up to me. Riku stared, watching us.

"Axel! We're having ice cream again today, right?" she asked sweetly. "I have great news!"

"Sure thing, kiddo," I said. I couldn't help it –I put my hand on her head and tousled her hair as she smiled brightly.

She ran off, to her next class.

"Do you like her?" Riku asked, and we began walking again.

"She's my friend –nothing more. I can't help but feel bad for her. She's so smart, but too shy and afraid of being rejected to try and make friends. Why do you care, anyways?"

"I dunno. I'm just curious."

"Well, gotta go. Seeya," I said, smirking. I walked off in the opposite direction.

Xion bought the ice cream today. She happily climbed into "our" tree.

"Geez, what are you so excited about?" I asked.

"You know that new kid, Roxas?" she asked.

"Don't answer a question with a question, but yeah."

"I'm going to tutor him for two classes!" she beamed with pride.

"Congrats!" I said, smiling. I _was_ happy for her, but would that mean she'd be too busy for after school ice cream?

"Maybe he can start eating ice cream with us!" she said, still beaming.

"Yeah, maybe," I said. _Maybe I _should_ go to college. Xion can just tutor for a year after I'm gone, right?_

"Axel?"

"Hm?" I snapped out of my thoughts to see Xion leaning over, looking at me worriedly.

"Your ice cream's dripping," she pointed out. "What were you thinking about?"

"College."

"Oh."

"Do you think I should go?" I asked.

"Well, yeah. That would help you. And I'd be forced to make friends."

"Nuh-uh!" A girl yelled.

"It's true!" A boy yelled back.

"Oh, man, hide!" I commanded.

"Why?" Xion asked.

"Just do it!" I hissed. Since we were already in the leaves, we brought up our legs so the kids below couldn't see us.

I watched as Kairi and Sora raced, Riku slowly walking behind them. In the distance, there was a black-haired boy watching them.

I held my breath, hoping desperately that Riku wouldn't see us.

Riku walked over to the tree, looked up, and yelled, "Hey!"

Xion froze.

` "Axel, you can come down. I know you're up there. That girl is too, isn't she?" _Is he bluffing?_

Xion started to move, but I glared at her, silently telling her to stop. She stopped.

"Don't make me climb up there," Riku said. When we didn't move, he dropped his bag, and began the climb.

Xion's eyes went wide.

"Why didn't you come down?" he asked after he had climbed into the leaves with us.

_He's a fast climber._

"I thought you were bluffing," I answered honestly.

"Why would I do that?" Riku asked, smirking.

"Why wouldn't you?" I smirked right back at him.

Xion pulled her knees up to chest and stared and the ground below us. She gazed anywhere but at Riku. When he tried to catch her eyes, she looked in the opposite direction.

There was a long, awkward silence.

"Riku!" I heard Kairi call.

"Ri-_ku_!" Sora yelled. "Where _are_ you?"

"Gotta go," Riku said. He jumped out of the tree. "Here I am!"

"Where were you?"

"Why were you in a tree?" I heard Kairi and Sora question him as their voices grew quieter, farther away.

"Xion, why wouldn't you talk to him or even look at him?" I asked.

She stared at the ocean.

Finally, she said, "I don't like him. He just seems…dark."


	7. Sora: Alone in a Crowded Room

*SORA*

"Kairi!" I called across the busy hallway after school.

"Yes?" she asked, running up to me.

"We're going to the town, not the beach, today, right?" I asked, making sure I got our plans right.

"Uh, no," she answered, staring at the floor sheepishly.

"Wasn't that the plan? Did I get it mixed up _again_?"

"Uh, you got the plan spot-on. We _were_ going to go to the town, but I had plans with someone else that I had forgotten about. Sorry! You and Riku can still go to town, though. Gotta go. Bye!" Kairi ran off.

_What? Where's she going with somebody else? Who is that person who comes before me and Riku?_

Riku and I didn't go to town. We went to the beach, as always. We wandered around, climbed trees, raced, and eventually did our homework.

Once the sun was about to set, Riku and I walked over to the bent tree he always sat on and I always leaned on to watch the sun set.

When we got there, I was horrified to see other people there already.

Those people?

Kairi. And Roxas. _Holding hands_.

"Kairi…" I muttered. She heard me, and turned around.

"Sora, Riku! Come sit with us," Kairi said, smiling brightly.

Riku walked towards her, but I pulled him back. When he saw the look in my eyes, he grabbed my wrist, pulled me over to the tree, and plopped me down next to Kairi. He sat on my other side, probably to make sure I wouldn't escape.

A long, long, _long_ silence followed.

"Kairi, Roxas, what did you two do today?" Riku asked, breaking the icy silence.

Kairi and Roxas exchanged glances.

Riku looked away. Suddenly I felt like they all knew something I didn't…

I felt alone in a crowded room.

"Well, I gotta go," Riku said, then got up and left, waving as he walked across the beach.

"Me, too," Roxas said, and then followed Riku.

That left just me and Kairi.

"How was the town?" Kairi asked sweetly.

"We didn't go," I muttered.

"Why not?"

"We couldn't go without you! It wouldn't be the same," I explained.

"That's sweet. Look, I'm really sorry about not following our plan today, but I had totally forgotten about my plans with Roxas 'til the last minute. Sora, I'm really sor-"

"Forget it," I hissed.

"Are you mad? If it's about the Roxas thing, I'm-"

"Just _drop it_, okay?" I yelled, standing up.

"Sora…"

I sat back down. _Why am I so angry? She's allowed to have other friends! Is it because Kairi and Roxas are…_more _than friends?_

"If you're angry, I'll go home," Kairi said, staring the ground.

I sat on the tree, holding my head in my hands. I said nothing.

Soon, I heard footsteps headed away from me.

I looked up, and stared at the sun. It hadn't set yet, and I was alone.

_What did I _do_?_


	8. Naminé: His Help

I snuck around the building. I was safe. And hopefully I hadn't been noticed.

I passed an old mirror in the alleyway I was sneaking through. I saw my dyed black hair, and green contacts, and I sighed.

_Why am I doing this? Because I'm bored? She's going to catch me, and I'll be in trouble._

"What are you doing?" a cold voice from behind asked me.

I jumped. "Uh, Malef-" I began, but when I turned around, Maleficent wasn't there. Riku was.

"Riku!" I was surprised. "What are _you_ doing back here in an alley?"

Riku stared at me. Well, it was more of a glare. "How do you know my name?" he asked.

_That's right! I keep forgetting that just because I know everyone, it doesn't mean they know me._

"Um, hello there, Riku. Sorry, I must've heard someone say your name, and then forgotten you didn't know me," I lied.

"Uh-huh," Riku muttered, still scrutinizing me.

I stared back at him, wondering what he was thinking. To him, I looked like a seven-year-old girl wandering the streets at midnight.

"Well, seeya, Naminé," Riku said, and started to walk off.

"What?"

Riku turned around and smiled. "Your name…it's Naminé, isn't it?"

"W-what? How'd you know?" I was confused.

"I dunno. Something inside just told me it was your name. You seem familiar."

"I-I do?" Had I been careless at some point and he had seen me?

"How old are you?" Riku asked.

"Uh…Seven," I decided to lie again.

"You're awful smart for a seven-year-old."

"Really? You're the first to say that," I said, surprised.

"Do you trust me?" Riku asked.

"Huh? Why?"

"Why don't you come with me, and I'll give you a place to stay tonight," Riku said, holding out his hand with a big smile on his face.

"Uh, okay," I said. I could hide from Maleficent, and I thought Riku was trustable if he could detect these things about me.

Riku shushed me, and then opened a door to a house.

"Is this your house?" I asked, not recognizing the place.

"No, it's a friend of mine's, but I'm sure we can stay here and talk," Riku whispered. Riku sat on one couch, and I sat on the other.

"Is this Kairi's house?" I whispered.

"Yes, it is. Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

"Um, okay. But first, you have to promise you won't tell anyone!" I almost yelled.

Riku stood up, covering my mouth with his hand. "You have to be quiet!"

"Sorry," I whispered.

Riku sat down. After a while, he said, "Okay, I promise I won't tell anyone."

"What do you want to know first?" I asked.

"How old are you? You're obviously not seven," Riku pointed out.

"Yes, I am! Physically, at least. I'm fifteen, in actuality."

"Really?"

"Yes. She thought I would listen to her if I was smaller, and weaker. So I've been seven for eight years." I stared at the ground.

"She? Maleficent?" Riku asked.

"What? How'd you know?" I snapped my head up.

"I've dealt with Maleficent before."

"What? That's not good. Where have you seen her or heard her?" I asked, now worried for Riku.

"I dream about her. She says that I have darkness that can help me. Just a bunch of crap," Riku nonchalantly said.

"Riku, you deny _everything_ she says, right?" I asked, really worried. Riku may not realize it, but he could easily fall into darkness any minute.

"Of course, Naminé," Riku said, looking at my worried face. "Where are you staying?"

"Oh! Well, I ran away from Maleficent, so nowhere, right now."

"Do you want me to see if I can get you a place to stay?"

"Could you?"

Riku laughed. "Of course I can."

"RIKU! Where the _heck_ have you been?" Riku's dad yelled the second we walked in. Except, he didn't say 'heck'.

"Hey, Dad, Mom," Riku said. I stood behind him, clutching the bottom of his shirt. He had told me to look as much like a seven-year-old as I could.

"Riku, who's that?" Riku's mom asked, looking at me with concern.

"Oh, Mom, this is a little girl I found wandering the streets. I was concerned, so I tried to get her to come home so I could see if we could find her a place to stay," Riku lied.

_It's not good to lie, Riku. I have a bad feeling about this!_

"Well, do you know her name?" Riku's mom asked. Riku's dad looked like he was about to explode.

"Mom, this is Nami. She's seven."

"Well, hello there, Nami! Such a cutie, isn't she? And such a beautiful name, too!" Riku's mom cooed.

I smiled sheepishly, clutching Riku's shirt tighter. My hand was turning white.

"Well, honey, how can we turn down a cutie like that? We'll let her stay here, won't we?" Riku's mom asked her husband.

"Well, she _is_ adorable. Kind of like Riku was when he was younger. Sure, she can stay here!" Riku's dad gave in.

Riku turned around and gave me a triumphant look.

"Riku, honey, show her to the guest room and make sure she's settled, please," Riku's mom shooed us away.

"'Kay, Mom," Riku responded, lightly pushing me down a hall.

"Okay, this is your room," Riku whispered, pointing to a door. Then, he pointed to the one next to it. "That's my room. If there are _any_ problems, come tell me, okay?"

"Okay," I whispered back.

"One more thing. Tell everyone your name is Nami, _not_ Naminé, okay? That way, if Maleficent comes asking, they won't know a Naminé."

"Okay," I said, smiling. Riku was smart, and I could depend on him to protect me. He knew a lot.

"How long do you plan to stay?" Riku asked.

"Well, at least until I get my original body back, and then I'd like to stay. So, 'til I die, I guess," I replied honestly.

"Well, I guess it's time to enroll you in school," Riku sighed.

The next day, Riku took me to the nearby elementary school. I'd be in second grade, not tenth, like I wanted to be.

Riku and his mother talked to the principal. They had a long talk about me. Riku lied, yet again, and said I had just moved from another world.

The principal believed every word. He let me in, and chose which teacher would be mine.

"Thank you!" I called before we left.

"Riku, why are you doing so much for me?" I asked, once we got to Riku's house.

"I dunno, I feel bad for you I guess," Riku said, looking deep in thought. He suddenly burst into laughter.

"What happened?" I asked, confused.

"You're so short, because you have a seven-year-old body, but in reality, I'm talking to a fifteen-year-old girl."

"Oh. I guess that _is_ weird."

"Don't be upset, Nami," Riku said, seeing my expression.

"S-sorry," I replied.

"It's okay, Naminé. I'm here, and I'll protect you." Riku had a giant smile on his face.

"Thanks," I replied, now smiling.

I could tell we had a great friendship ahead of us.


	9. Xion: Hot Chocolate and Lies

*XION*

"It's so cold!" Roxas cried, staring up at the sky.

I laughed. "It sure is!" December had come, and the ground was covered in snow. He and I were walking to his house so I could tutor him. We did this twice a week, and sometimes he had eaten ice cream with Axel and me.

"Axel's coming, right?" Roxas asked. He and Axel seemed to be friends, but at the same time, didn't. Maybe it was because Axel was two years older, and a misfit, while Roxas wasn't.

"Yeah, I invited him, like you said," I replied, kicking snow out of my way. I hugged myself, and tightened my loose scarf.

"Okay, good," Roxas said, smiling. Since it had gotten too cold for ice cream, Axel and I went to each other's houses and drank hot cocoa instead. Roxas had sort of joined in on the tradition.

Once we made it to his house, I saw Axel standing on Roxas's porch, dozing. He must've heard us coming, because he snapped out of his light nap and yelled out, "Hey, kiddo!"

"Hi, Axel!" I laughed. Axel came over and tousled my hair. "Hey!" I cried, swatting at his hand. We burst into laughter. Roxas looked on, expressionless.

"Let's go inside," Roxas curtly said, and unlocked the door.

"C'mon, Xion," Axel said, and walked into the house after Roxas.

"I'll get the hot chocolate ready!" I called, and set my stuff down before going into the kitchen.

When I came out with three steaming cups of hot chocolate, I saw Roxas and Axel glaring at each other.

"When will you two give up?" I sighed, setting the cups down on the table. I sat down.

"What do you mean?" Roxas asked.

"You two act like you hate each other, but you secretly are best friends, aren't you?" I asked, teasing them, kind of meaning it.

"Ah! Hot!" Axel cried after sipping his beverage.

I laughed. "Beats ice cream, though, huh?"

Axel and Roxas nodded, not looking at each other. This reminded me of when Axel and Riku first became friends. I refused to look at Riku, but that was because I was scared of him. What was wrong with these two?

"Roxas, will you get napkins, please? Axel's bound to spill," I said, lying.

Roxas got up and left.

"What's your problem?" I asked Axel, whispering.

"What?" he responded, playing dumb.

"Why don't you two get along in front of me?" I tried again.

"We don't get along at _all_. Got it memorized?" this time, there was no smirk when he said that.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Roxas is stuck-up and thinks he's _so _smart! He annoys me," Axel whispered, looking away.

"Why do you hang out with him, then?" I asked, confused.

Silence followed

"Because, I want to see if he'll be a good friend for you once I graduate," Axel finally confessed.

"Why are you so worried about me? I'm not a _child_," I snapped. "Besides, that's two years away."

"Sorry for caring, and trying to be a friend," Axel whispered, looking downcast. I could tell I'd hurt his feelings, but I was too angry to apologize.

Roxas walked back into the room.

"What's going on?" he asked when he saw how angry I was and how upset Axel was.

"I was just about to leave," Axel said quietly. "And not come back."

"Already? Well, it was good seeing you," Roxas replied, setting the napkins down on the table.

"Bye, Xion," Axel said before walking out the door.

I didn't respond.

Roxas shut the door once Axel left. "What did you say to him?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to seem innocent.

"You obviously said something to him to make him upset like that. He's not like that often."

"I'm sorry. We were talking about something, and I started yelling at him," I admitted.

"Oh," Roxas replied. He seemed lost in thought. Had I upset him, _too_?

"We should get to studying," I said. _Before I hurt any more feelings,_ I silently added.

"Yeah, you're right. Next time, can we study at your house, Xion?" Roxas asked, grabbing a textbook.

"No, that's okay. I mean, if we can't come here that day, we don't have to study. We can take a break, if you want," I blabbered.

"No, it's not that. I want to see where _you_ live," Roxas laughed.

I froze. _What? He can't do that! I don't want to meet my roommate; he'll know the truth if he does…_

"Xion?"

"Y-yes?" I blurted, sitting up straight. Roxas laughed.

"Are you alright? You seemed upset," Roxas pointed out.

I laughed, and lied. "No, I'm fine!"

Why was I becoming so different, so unkind, and a liar?


	10. Riku: Apology Gone Wrong

*RIKU*

"Hi, Riku!" Kairi yelled, smiling.

I pulled my hand out of my pocket and waved.

Ever morning, Sora and I would meet up and walk to Kairi's house and meet her. From there, the three of us would walk to school together.

Ever since that one night at the beach back in September, things hadn't been the same between the two. Apparently, after I left, Sora lost it and yelled at Kairi. He's been trying to make it up to her since then, but she's been rejecting it.

We walked for some time until Sora broke the silence.

"What are you guys doing for Christmas?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah, that's only a week away, huh?" I groaned.

"I'm going to visit my parents," Kairi said. Her parents lived in another world, and that was why she had a roommate, so she could stay in Destiny Islands.

"I'll probably stay home and see what happens. Maybe I'll sleep," I said. That's what usually happened in my family. We opened presents in the morning, and then had an entire day to waste.

I noticed that I was standing in the middle of the three of us. Usually, it was Kairi. Since she and Sora were in some sort of argument, I guess they couldn't even stand next to each other.

"Riku, who's that blonde girl you're always with? Is she your sister or something?" Kairi asked, staring up at me.

"Or something," I replied, purposely not looking at her.

"We have to hurry or we're gonna be late!" Sora cried abruptly, running ahead. I jogged after him, silently thanking him for the change of subject.

"Wait for me, Riku!" I heard Kairi call.

"School's finally over!" Kairi cheered, throwing her arms in the air.

"Just one more day until winter vacation!" Sora tried to cheer with Kairi, but she turned away from him, to me.

"Riku, can we meet that little girl today?" she asked, staring up at me.

"Uh…" I looked the other way, hoping to avoid the question.

"Riku, you're getting red," Kairi pointed out.

"So, is she your _girlfriend_?" Sora teased.

"Fine," I agreed, and we all walked off to go pick up Naminé from school.

Naminé ran up to greet me. "Riku! It's so boring as a…" She trailed off as she saw Kairi and Sora standing by me.

She immediately clutched my shirt and hid behind me.

"Who's this?" Kairi asked.

"This is Nami. She's my, uh, sister, I guess you could say," I struggled for a believable explanation.

"Nami, you're adorable!" Kairi cooed. Naminé slowly stepped from behind me to my side.

To me, "Nami" was a short fifteen-year-old girl, but then I realized how she must appear to everyone else. The black hair dye she had originally had when I found her had faded immensely, and now she was a slightly dirty blonde. It turned out her green eyes had been contacts. I'd gotten her to take them out, and now everyone could see her shining blue eyes. And then, there was the fact that she was stuck inside of a seven-year-old body.

"She actually does kinda look like you, Riku," Sora said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yup. Don't they look alike, Kairi?" Sora patted Kairi's shoulder to get her attention.

Kairi smacked away his hand. "Don't _touch_ me!"

The world seemed to freeze. Sora stood there, staring at his hand, stunned. Naminé's eyes welled up with tears. Kairi looked shocked at what she had done. I stood there, taking it all in, expressionless.

"Please don't hurt him!" Naminé cried, breaking the silence.

Kairi immediately hugged Naminé, repeatedly saying, "I'm so sorry!"

Naminé looked up from Kairi's shoulder, and I gave her a thumbs-up. _She's smart, for sure. _Naminé smiled at my approval of her.

"We should go. Nami's gonna get cold in this snow," I said.

"Why don't we come to my place?" Kairi offered.

"Or how about mine?" Sora offered too, but I knew he was just trying to get Kairi to acknowledge him positively.

"Like I said, my place would be good," Kairi confirmed. "Let's go!" She took Naminé's hand and the two girls skipped off happily.

Sora frowned, and stared at the ground. I slapped a hand on his back.

"Wake up, Sora. You'll just have to prove to Kairi that you know you did wrong," I said.

"Like how?" he asked, obviously clueless.

I sighed. "Try apologizing," I suggested.

"Okay!" Sora cheered, and ran off after the two girls.

I suddenly realized I was alone, and jogged after Sora.

"Are you okay?" I asked. Kairi was crying, curled up into a ball on her couch in the apartment she shared with her roommate, who wasn't home at the time. Naminé stood next to her, stroking Kairi's hair.

"I'm so mean, Riku!" Kairi finally said.

"Not really. You're pretty nice, Kairi," I said.

"No, I'm not! I'm treating Sora like this over something really stupid!" Somehow, the sobs became harder.

"Yeah, he apologized. Why'd you kick him out?" I asked, honestly confused.

"I…I don't know. I guess I just wanted a reason to be mad at someone…" Kairi said between sobs, which were steadily growing farther apart.

"Why don't you talk to your roommate about this, Kairi? Maybe she'll know how to help you. I have to get Nami home. My parents are probably about to call the cops to come looking for us." It was true. The sun had already gone down, and I hadn't checked in with my parents.

Naminé got up, we collected our stuff, and we were walking out the door when a girl walked up. She was wearing a baseball cap, and was looking at the ground, so I couldn't see her face. Her jacket hood was tucked around the back of her neck, hiding her hair.

There's one thing I could tell, though. That hat wasn't hers.

It belonged to Roxas, Kairi's boyfriend.


	11. Kairi: Betrayal

*KAIRI*

My roommate walked in the door after Riku and Nami left. I almost ignored her until I saw her hat.

When she saw me looking at her, her pace began to quicken.

"Hey, get back here!" I said, jumping off of the couch. I could tell my face showed that I'd been crying, but I didn't care. What was this girl doing with my boyfriend's hat?

She slowly stepped back into the room, looking sheepish.

"Why do you have Roxas's hat? He's _my_ boyfriend, you know," I nearly hissed at her.

"I-" she began, but I cut her off.

"You _knew_ he's my boyfriend, right? Not yours."

"I know. It was his idea," she said.

"Oh, sure. Blame it on him," I huffed, sounding skeptic. _Would he actually do that?_ Suddenly, I was worried.

"No, really! He said my hood wouldn't protect me from the snow," she said. She bit her lip and looked to the side.

"What did he _actually_ say?" I asked angrily. She was lying, I could tell.

She remained silent, staring at the wall behind me.

"What did he say?" I repeated. I wondered if I actually wanted to know.

"He…" she began before staring at the floor and blushing.

_Please let it be something harmless._

"He said that I…"

_He said that you were freezing cold, probably sick, and you should use his hat to warm up again?_

"He said that I looked cute in it," she confessed, and immediately stared at the floor again.

"Stop lying," I said, hoping she was joking.

"I'm not. I wish I were, Kairi!" she cried.

"Get out," I said, shaking in horror. I felt betrayed by Roxas.

She ran to her bedroom just before I collapsed onto the couch again. I picked up the phone and dialed the number I had imprinted into my mind.

But Sora didn't answer. _He's mad at me too, huh? Guess he abandoned me._

I dialed Riku's number, and somebody picked up.

"Hello, how can I help you?" a voice greeted me.

"Uh, is Riku there?" I asked, trying to force down the sobs I knew were coming.

"Yeah, this is him. What's up, Kairi?" Riku asked.

I explained everything to Riku, and after I did, the tears and sobs came out and I lied there for I don't know how long, and just let it all out.

Once I couldn't cry anymore, Riku promised to come see me tomorrow. We exchanged goodbyes and hung up.

I stumbled into the kitchen, and got a glass of water. I felt heartbroken. Did Roxas, Sora_, and _my roommate abandon me? I felt like Riku was my only friend left. But he seemed to care about Nami much more.

I decided to get some sleep. I slipped under the covers in my school uniform, not bothering to change.

Two weeks later, I was still in the dumps. I didn't really see life anymore. It all just went by, full of sorrow. The only time I felt happy was when I ate lunch with Riku.

Riku knew how to make me smile, whether he was trying or not.

I hated going home, so I tagged along with Riku for as long as I could. I think he knew how bad my situation was more than he let on, because he let me follow him, when usually he would've yelled at me to leave.

When I finally came home, I went into my room and shut the door. I started on my homework. I could dive into thinking about that and erase the hurtful outside world.

A small knock dragged me out of my homework.

"Go away," I snapped; knowing it was probably my roommate. I had silently vowed to never speak to her until I no longer felt betrayed.

She opened the door, and stepped in. She looked scared as she sat down beside me.

"I need to talk to you, Kairi," she said.

"I'm sure Roxas would be more than happy to talk to you," I replied, not looking at her.

"Well, that's what this is about," she said, looking at me. "Kairi, please don't ignore me." I noticed her tone stayed steady and gentle even though I was being rude to her.

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Kairi, will you be okay with it if I date Roxas?" she asked, sounding determined.

"You haven't been dating him?" I looked up at her, curious. I looked at her scared eyes, her short, dark hair. She was still looking at me, holding my gaze.

"No, I haven't been," she finally replied. "I wanted to ask you first. If you're not okay with it, I'll just be friends with him."

_You care about my opinion _that_ much? Maybe you haven't abandoned me._

"Yeah. Go ahead," I said, now feeling better.

She got up and walked away. When she got to the door, she stopped, turned around, and said, "Kairi?"

"Yeah?" I answered.

"Thanks. I'd hate to hurt your feelings. I consider you my friend."

My body reacted almost immediately. Before I knew it, I was at the door, hugging her, crying. But this time, my tears were of bliss, not sorrow.

She seemed surprised, but hugged me back.

"Thank you," I replied, feeling really happy. I had almost forgotten what happiness was in the past two weeks. But thanks to my roommate – no, my friend! – I finally remembered.

"I consider you a friend as well, Xion." I said, letting go of her. We stared at each other for some time. My stare was filled with happiness, while hers was riddled with confusion.

Finally, she smiled.

We looked at each other, and then linked pinkies as we would do as children to silently promise a lasting friendship between us.


	12. Sora: Do You Miss Her?

*SORA*

The banana peel went flying as Hayner tripped on it. Yuffie and I silently giggled and high-fived.

Hayner stood up and yelled, "AND WHOSE WHACKED-UP IDEA WAS THAT?" while Olette, Pence, and Roxas tried very hard to not burst into laughter.

Yuffie and I took off, hoping Hayner wouldn't chase us. When we finally decided we were safe, we stopped to catch our breath. Once we had, we burst into hysterical laughter that made it hard to breath.

"That was a good idea, Sora," Yuffie said, smiling at me. "We should pull pranks together more often."

We. Together. I liked the sound of that.

"Sora, is something wrong? You're all red," Yuffie pointed out.

"Uh, no, nothing's wrong," I lied. _What's wrong is that I think I'm getting to like you… a lot._

Ever since Kairi and I had stopped talking, I had started to hang out with Yuffie. She was nice, tomboyish, and had a sense of humor.

She was also really pretty. She had short, black hair, like Xion, and striking violet eyes. She was taller though, so we were about the same height.

She was different from Kairi in almost every way, which I liked. The only similarity was when they laughed, it sounded exactly the same. Kairi loved to laugh, and so did Yuffie, so it upset me.

"Really?" Yuffie teased, still talking about my red face.

"Yes!" I said loudly.

Yuffie checked around the corner for Hayner, then said, "We're safe now, for sure."

"Good!" I said, relieved.

"What are you two doing? You should be going to class. It's bound to start any minute now," a teacher said as she walked by.

"Yes, ma'am!" Yuffie replied, grabbed my arm, and pulled me away. She was well-known by teachers as a model student, though she seemed like a mischievous troublemaker in my opinion.

"Yuffie, you can let go now," I said, stumbling, trying to keep up with her.

"No, not until I make sure you're not ditching!" she said firmly, making me stare in wonder. Suddenly, I heard the high heels clacking on the hard floor, and realized the teacher was following us.

"I won't, I promise!" I pleaded with her, putting on a show for the teacher. Yuffie caught on quickly.

"Yeah, right, liar! I won't fall for that _again._"

"I swear, this time I won't!" I dragged my feet on the floor, slowing her down.

"That's not going to work with me, you know. You're so pathetic." Yuffie sighed, but secretly flashed me a smile.

We had actually arrived at our classroom, so Yuffie let go, but stared at me, and mouthed, "Good job."

"Thanks," I mouthed back.

I honestly loved spending time with Yuffie. She had a great personality, and knew how to find the fun in things, like making a show out of it when you're followed by a teacher that thinks you're ditching with your lover. How could I want anything else?

"That was hilarious, Sora!" Yuffie exclaimed after class, talking about our show for the teacher that followed us.

"Thanks. You were amazing at that," I complimented her.

"Thanks for catching on," she winked back. I grinned in response.

We were walking to lunch now. Sometimes, we walked in comfortable silence, and this was one of those times. I was staring at the floor while I walked.

Suddenly, I slammed into someone. I stumbled back, muttering, "Sorry." Then, I looked into the person's eyes.

Kairi's bright blue eyes stared into mine. She didn't seem angry. She seemed sad. We stared at each other for a while. Other people walked by around us, but Kairi and I stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. I realized Yuffie was watching as soon as Kairi ran off, shouting Riku's name.

Yuffie looked hurt. I realized that, to her, it seemed like I had picked Kairi over her.

"Yuffie, do you want a candy bar today? I'll pay!" I offered, hoping to cheer her up.

"Sure," she smiled, quickly erasing the hurt from her face. That's who Yuffie was. She was happy, and quick to hide her pain in order to make others happier.

Once we had sat down, I gave Yuffie the promised candy bar, and we began to eat.

"Do you miss Kairi?" Yuffie asked suddenly, out of the blue.

"Yes," I replied, without thinking. I had meant to lie, but the truth had slipped out of my mouth.

Yuffie smiled sadly before saying, "I thought so."

"Yuffie…" I wasn't sure what I was going to say, I just wanted her to be happy. I hated seeing her like this.

"It doesn't matter. I figured so."

"It does! Because I'm not friends with you just because Kairi won't talk to me. I truly do love to hang out with you and be around you. I _like_ being your friend, okay?" I said, it all coming out really fast.

"Really? Because, there's no need to lie to me, Sora," Yuffie said, obviously bitter.

"Really. I couldn't care less about Kairi. Right now, I'm friends with you, and that's what matters, right?" I put a big smile on my face. I cheered up immensely when Yuffie smiled right back.

"Yuffie, what's wrong?" I asked when she came to our meeting spot in tears. It had been a few days since what had happened at lunch.

Somehow, through her tears, Yuffie explained that people had been endlessly teasing her since school had started, and it had gotten worse. I had seen this teasing occur; people would use many inappropriate words. Yuffie tried to laugh it off; I tried to get into a fist fight. In the end, Yuffie talked me out of it, so both of us stayed out of trouble.

Apparently, Yuffie had yelled at them, and a teacher had gotten _her_ in trouble instead of the other kids.

Instinctively, and because I didn't know what else to do, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close, hugging her. I wanted her to feel safe.

Into her hair, I whispered, "It'll be okay, Yuffie. I'm won't let them hurt you."


	13. Naminé: The Mirror

***NAMINÉ***

I walked along, holding Riku's hand. It was a bit uncomfortable for us, but everyone had grown used to us being considered siblings, so we did sibling-like things such holding hands, piggyback rides, etc.

I liked the beach. Riku took me here a lot because he knew how much I loved it. I walked barefoot, feeling the sand between my toes. It was cold, but I liked how it felt. There were no beaches where I had been before.

"Thank you, Riku," I said.

"For what?" he asked, staring at me in surprise.

"For taking care of me, and keeping my secret. You didn't have to, you know," I replied, flashing him a smile. He smiled nervously back at me. I could imagine how hard it would be for him to explain to everyone why all of a sudden, a little girl lived with his family, and how they knew her.

But the secret Riku harbored was much deeper than that.

Riku still looked uneasy, so I decided to change the subject.

"Can we go play in the waves?" I asked sweetly. Riku nodded, and we raced for the water.

Watching Riku run, I felt bad for him. He was still a little kid at heart, but something had made him grow up too soon. What had?

"Riku, wait for me!" I called.

He laughed in response.

"Ri-_ku_!" I called again. He didn't stop, but he slowed down noticeably.

I caught up to him, and pushed him into the water. He tripped, and got saltwater all over his pants.

"I'm sorry, Riku!" I apologized.

"Stop it," he muttered. We both sat on his bedroom floor, talking.

"What? Why? I _am_ sorry, and I feel really bad about it," I tried to explain.

"Sorry for what? Pushing me in an ocean? That's what friends do, Nami," Riku smiled, lightly punching my head.

"Maybe next time, I'll push your head in and keep it there," I muttered to myself, crossing my little arms across my chest.

"What's that?" Riku asked, rubbing a towel over his pant leg.

"Nothing!" I chirped, smiling.

"No, seriously. What did you say?"

I laughed, not wanting to tell him. Riku got up to put his towel away. As he passed me, he dropped the towel over my head, and momentarily, I couldn't see.

"Ri-_ku!_"

"Ye-_es?_" he mimicked me. I puffed out my cheeks and forced tears to my eyes. That always worked in Riku's family. A few tears, and they were immediately sorry.

"Ah, you know I'm only joking, Nami!" Riku said, and sat on his knees, at my level. He pulled me into a hug.

"Hey! You got me wet!" I cried, but giggling at the same time.

"Yes, I did, Nami. I'm sorry for making you cry. You know I wouldn't be mean like that," he replied, setting me back on the ground.

"Okay," I replied, all smiles again.

"So, how do we get you from seven to fifteen?" he asked.

My smile disappeared, and I stared at the ground.

"Nami, you can tell me, you know," he said, now whispering.

"It's dangerous, Riku," I whispered back.

"Well, can I at least know what it is?"

"Okay, but Riku, you won't do this will you?" I begged.

"Well, I can't answer until you give me an answer," he responded, his voice as even as mine wasn't.

"Okay, you have to go to that parallel universe, the one I came from, and steal a mirror."

"That's it?" Riku asked in amazement. I bit my lip.

"No. It has to be a certain, guarded, crystal mirror. If it shatters, your life ends. If you look into it, you'll end up like me. You have to make it back here and bring me that mirror," I said slowly.

"That doesn't sound _too_ hard."

"Are you kidding? You'd have to find a way in and out of there, and grab that crystal mirror without guards slaughtering you. It's nearly impossible."

"But it's not completely impossible, right?" Riku asked, a mischievous smile sliding onto his face.

"Riku, no! You can't do this; you'll die!" I whispered loudly. I was really concerned, and I didn't want him to go through with this.

"Oh, Nami, it looks like it's your bedtime. Come along now," Riku said, standing up and walking to my bedroom. I slowly, but eventually, followed.

_Riku can't be insane to follow through with this, right? I mean, I've explained that it's dangerous, and he could die. But he still seems like he wants to go through with it. Wait, is he willing to…die for…me? _

"Riku, tell me a bedtime story," I begged once I was tucked in.

"No, I'm bad at making stories," he said.

"Oh, come _on_, Riku! Just try it, okay?" I pleaded.

"Fine," he reluctantly gave in. I clapped.

Riku told me a beautiful story. It was a fantasy, about a girl who stumbles upon a kingdom of cats. I faintly remembered a movie I'd seen similar to that.

I stumbled into the kitchen, tired, rubbing my eyes and yawning.

"Oh, Nami, dear, have you seen Riku?" Riku's mother asked as she packed my school lunch.

"No, why? Is he gone?" I asked, sitting at the table.

"Yes. I went to wake him up this morning and he wasn't there."

"Oh. Maybe he went to school early to work on something," I yawned.

"Oh, maybe he did! I won't get worried until after school, then."

But he didn't go to school early. I knew that. It had been a few weeks since I had told Riku about the mirror, but I knew he had found a way in, and decided to test fate.

_Riku, why are you so _stupid_? You're going to risk your life for me? I mean, I'm flattered, but I'd rather be seven than see you die._

"Oh, my goodness, where could he be?" Riku's mother asked to no one in particular. She was really worked up. I was too, I just didn't show it.

Riku's dad, as soon as he had been told that Riku was missing, plopped himself in front of the TV to watch football. He cared; I knew that, he just didn't want to face the truth.

"Nami, Riku will be fine, right?" Riku's mom asked, embracing me tightly.

"Right," I whispered in her ear, to soothe her.

I was lying. Riku wasn't safe. Riku was probably dead already.

I was the only one that knew that.


	14. Pence: Hayner's Pain

***PENCE***

"Let's _go_, Hayner!" Olette impatiently said.

"Why are you forcing me, huh?" Hayner yelled back.

"What are you two fighting about this time?" I asked, not really caring. I just knew that I would end up resolving their problem, as always.

"I am taking Hayner to go talk to Roxas," Olette said. I notice she held his wrist and was trying to drag him away.

"Why?" I asked.

"Yeah, Olette! Why do I have to do this?" Hayner quickly said.

"You haven't stopped complaining about Roxas's new girlfriend. Before, you were going off about how he was abandoning us for Kairi and popularity. When they broke up, you were all happy. Now that he's dating Xion, you're really mad again, and I'm sick of it!" Olette explained angrily.

Hayner, knowing that was true, looked at me. So did Olette. They were waiting for me to pick a side. I stared at both of them, building up suspense.

"Olette's right, Hayner," I said.

"_WHAT?_" Hayner yelled.

"You make problems, Hayner, you fix 'em," I replied, shrugging.

Olette laughed once she realized she had won. She walked away, dragging Hayner by the wrist, still laughing.

"So, how did it go today?" I asked Olette at lunch. I noticed Roxas had decided to sit with us, but Xion was nowhere to be seen.

"Hayner got all quiet, and started stammering," Olette said, before bursting into laughter. Roxas laughed with her, and Hayner blushed.

"What happened? What did I miss?" I asked again.

"What exactly did he say, Roxas?" Olette asked, giving Hayner a smug look.

"Something like, 'Sorry, I was mad at you. Now, I'm not,'" Roxas smirked at Hayner. Roxas, Olette and I started laughing loudly.

Hayner, somehow, turned even redder.

"Did you even explain why you were mad, Hayner?" I half-asked, half-laughed.

"Nope. I did, though," Olette chimed in.

"What would Hayner do without you, Olette?" I asked.

"He would be in jail," Olette smiled.

"No, I wouldn't! I'd be just _fine_ without you, Olette!" Hayner snapped.

"Oh, really? I think we all disagree on that," Roxas said, smiling.

"Yeah, right! You guys just have no faith in me, do you?" Hayner asked. He was almost yelling.

"No, not really," I said blankly.

"Nope," Olette said.

"Not at all," Roxas agreed.

Hayner looked sort of hurt. Maybe we _were_ a little too harsh. But, hey, we were being honest.

"Hey, don't be upset, Hayner! We're gonna stick by you anyways. That's what friends are for, right?" I asked, trying to cheer him up. Roxas and Olette smiled their agreement.

"Like when you got hit with that baseball? Pence and I took you to the hospital, even though you were screaming," Olette offered.

"Well, isn't that the right thing to do, whether you like a person or not?" Hayner asked, obviously still upset.

"Well, yeah. But I'm just saying," Olette began, but trailed off, unable to complete her thought.

"Either way, you're our friend, Hayner. That's what's important here, right?" Roxas asked, all smiles.

Hayner nodded and smiled, and I stared at him. He was pretending to be happy, pushing down the fact that he was upset.

"What's wrong, Hayner?" I cornered him by his locker afterschool.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Pence," Hayner replied, shoving a study guide in his backpack.

"At lunch, after we all apologized for being rude. You were pretending to be happy," I explained.

"What about it?" Hayner asked, staring at the floor.

"Why are you _really_ mad at Roxas?"

"You figured out I was lying?" Hayner asked sheepishly.

"Of course. We _are_ best friends, after all. The first time, since it was Kairi, it was expected. But Xion's really different, and she's really sweet. So what's your problem?" I asked.

Hayner went back to putting things in his backpack, some of which I noticed he had no need for.

Time passed slowly as we stood in silence.

"Roxas goes out with every girl I get a crush on," Hayner finally admitted.

"What? You like Xion?" I asked in surprise.

"Shh!" Hayner shushed me, looking around. "No one needs to know. Especially now that she's going out with _him._"

"Kairi, too?" I asked, whispering now.

"Yeah. Which is why I didn't want to talk to him after he dumped her for Xion," Hayner explained, slamming his locker shut.

"Are you ever gonna tell him?" I asked. Hayner began walking away. I followed.

"Of course not! How could I?" Hayner was angry now.

"Are you ever going to tell _her_?" I asked this time. Hayner stopped abruptly.

"I just might," Hayner said slowly.

"Who knows? Maybe she likes you better than him!"

"I doubt it. She supports him and talks to him every single day." Hayner began to walk again.

"Well, she _is_ going out with him." _Isn't that obvious, Hayner? What's wrong with you?_

"What?" Hayner asked, whispering for some reason.

"She's going out with him," I repeated.

"Olette's going out with Roxas?" Hayner turned around to face me, and _dang_, was he ticked.

"You like Olette?" I whispered. "I thought you like Xion."

"Well, yeah, I like Xion a little bit, but I've like Olette since we first met," Hayner admitted.

"That was years ago," I said, in a sort of shock.

"No, _duh_, Captain Obvious."

"How could I have not noticed?" I asked, dumbstruck.

"Maybe because you like her, too, and she quickly replaced me in your life," Hayner accused me before sprinting away, down the halls, to nowhere in particular.

_Hayner's right. He really has been neglected by us all, hasn't he? Roxas stole his crushes. Olette ignored his affection. I replaced him in my life. How has he kept up such an unaffected demeanor?_

_ Should I ask him? Or would that hurt him even more? Gosh, I don't know what to do! _

Then a thought occurred to me.

_What if Hayner's thought about committing suicide? It would have been our fault. Oh, my gosh, I wouldn't be able to live with that!_

I thought about calling Hayner, but that just might make it worse. So I called Olette instead.

"What's up, Pence?" Olette answered the phone.

"Oh, hi, Olette; can I ask you something?" I was rushing my words anxiously, so I tried to force myself to calm down.

"Sure," Olette answered, sounding curious.

"Um…Do you li – what do you think about Hayner?" _I need to think before I say something. I could really screw this up._

"Well, he's our friend, and he's funny. But, he's not very reliable, usually. He's pretty angry a lot, I guess," Olette answered slowly.

"Yeah, he's our friend, but have you ever thought of him as more than that?" I asked. _Crap._

"What?" Olette asked, sounding shocked. "No, not really… What's wrong, Pence?"

"Okay, I'll just get to the point. I think Hayner might be thinking about suicide."

"_What_? Why?" Olette asked, obviously upset.

"I…I don't really know how to explain it. But, I _can_ say that it would be our fault," I explained.

"What? I mean, sure, we can be mean to him, but…I thought he knew we care about him!" Olette's voice pitch was spiraling upward.

"Calm down, Olette. It's just a hunch, I have almost no evidence. Just keep this between the two of us, okay?" I asked, regretting calling her.

"O-of course," Olette replied. She sounded like she was about to cry.

"Okay, good. Don't tell Roxas."

"Right. What are you going to do, anyways?" She still sounded upset.

"Don't worry. Just leave it up to me, Olette," I replied.

_I just have to figure out how deep Hayner's subtle pain is first. _


	15. Axel: Slipping, but Watching

***AXEL***

"Axel, wake _up_!" the teacher shouted as he slapped a book down on my desk. I awoke with a start, looking around, confused.

"What? Three!" I guessed, giving a random answer. My vision was blurry, so I tried to clear it by rubbing my eyes. Once my vision became clear, I stared into Saїx's cold, steely eyes.

"This is English, not math, young man," Saїx hissed at me. "Keep yourself awake and pay attention, or I'll call home. It's almost February and you're still sleeping in class?" I watched as he returned to the front of the classroom.  
>"Sorry," I offered, only halfway meaning it. He ignored me. I know it's childish, but I stuck out my tongue at his back.<p>

I walked home with Xion and Roxas, as I usually do. I listened to them talk and laugh together, and felt isolated. Ever since they had started dating, they had spent a lot of time together. Even when I was with them, I felt like they weren't there, and like they were constantly in their own little world, leaving me feeling alone.

_Maybe I'm just jealous of them,_ I realized. _I've never had a girlfriend, after all. _

"Bye, Roxas!" Xion said, giving him a quick hug. I realized we were at the point where Roxas turned and went a separate way. _Had I spaced out for that long? _

"Bye, Xion," Roxas smiled before walking away. She smiled back.

Xion and I walked in silence for awhile.

"Are you okay, Axel?" Xion asked, avoiding my curious gaze. Before I could respond, she added, "I mean, you've been silent the entire walk so far, and your mind doesn't seem to be here."

"I don't know," I responded, but it was only a whisper, so she didn't hear.

"We're going to town today, right? Just you, me and ice cream, right?" she smiled up at me.

"It's too cold for ice cream, Xion. There's still snow on the ground. We can go to my place for hot chocolate, if you want, though," I replied, trying to be nice.

"Okay!" she happily agreed, and we chatted the entire way to my house.

I enjoyed spending time with Xion. She could always make me smile, even when she didn't know I was sad.

About an hour after we began hanging out, Xion's phone rang. She rushed to get it out of her skirt pocket, and answered it happily.

"Hi, Roxas!" she gushed. _I can't even have her to myself for an hour, I guess. Why is she so obsessed with Roxas? What does she see in him?_

"Oh, nothing, just hanging out with Axel," she said. _Did she just say hanging out with me is nothing? _

"Uh-huh. Yeah. Okay. Be right over. Love you too!" she hung up the phone and slipped it back into her pocket.

"What was that about?" I asked casually, already knowing she was about to leave me for him again.

"Oh, Roxas wants me to meet up with him. Is that okay with you?" she asked. Without waiting for me to answer, she began to put on her backpack and check to make sure she had everything.

_No! _I wanted to shout. _No, it is not okay that you leave me for him again! We've been close friends for quite a while, and now you just keep ditching me. Why, Xion? _

"Yeah," I said. I got up to clear the table, pretending I didn't give a flying duck that she was abandoning.

"Are you sure?" Xion asked as she usually did. This time she didn't care; it was just out of courtesy.

"Yes," I sharply answered, turning away from her. If she was going to slowly slip away from me, I would at least pretend I was fine without her. It would make her miss what she had let go of after Roxas broke up with her. I would hide this pain. Don't they say the best revenge is to smile and make them believe you're happier without them?

_Why am I thinking about revenge? Xion is my best friend!_ The door shut behind me. It surprised me that she took a while to leave.

Looking back on this moment, I wish I had done something better. For some reason, I just got angry and wouldn't talk to her that day. I wish I had, because after that, she stopped talking to me. Every second of her precious time was spent with Roxas.

A week later, I walked past her at lunch on my way to the school library. I just glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, and our gazes locked for a split second. Once she looked away, I felt betrayed. Roxas had his arm around her and was whispering something to her. She giggled and Roxas smiled. Everyone at their table smiled at them, but I just wanted to gag.

_Remember me?_ I wanted to shout at her. _We were best friends, when you were single._

"Hey, Axel!" someone called. I turned quickly toward the voice, half-hoping it was Xion finally speaking to me again. I turned to see Kairi. I was disappointed, but only for a second. Kairi and I were sort of becoming good friends. It was weird. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"The library," I replied.

"Oh," she replied, looking down.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. She looked really bummed, and I didn't want her to be upset.

"Have you seen Riku?" she asked. "He hasn't been to school in a few weeks."

"No, I don't know where he is. Have you tried calling him?" I asked. I had noticed Riku had been gone, but hadn't thought to ask anyone.

"Yes. I even went to his house. His mom barely opened the door and said he couldn't talk right now. Do you think something's wrong with him?" she asked. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and fast. I knew she and Riku were good friends, and had been since they were kids, so I knew this wasn't some crazy overreaction. Something really must be wrong.

I hugged Kairi, and she didn't pull away. I heard her crying get worse, and so I began to pet her hair. I looked over at Xion, to see if she was paying attention. She wasn't. I sat Kairi down at a table nearby, and sat with her there. Once she had calmed down, I offered to go with her today to Riku's house. She agreed to come with me. I gave her another hug before we went our separate ways. This time, Xion was watching.


	16. Riku: The Mirror Part 2

*RIKU*

"Are we almost there?" I whispered, for fear of getting caught.

"Yeah," the boy replied, staring at me. His black hair was disheveled, but that wasn't what was so weird about him. It was his eyes. They were a piercing gold. Whenever he stared at me, I couldn't help but be a little scared. He had on a black cloak that covered all but his face. He had pulled the hood back after awhile, though, so I finally saw his face.

"Okay. Thanks for your help," I said, meaning it. He had gotten me through the dark realm, helped me steal the mirror, and we had made it this far together. I was almost home. _Wait for me, Naminé. I'm almost there._

The boy stared at me with his cold, golden eyes. He looked angry. I challenged him with my own aqua-colored eyes. We stayed like this, staring angrily at each other for quite awhile before he broke the silence.

"Why do you want to help Naminé?" he asked, turning away from me and putting up his hood.

"W-what?" I asked, turning away from him, also. I stared at the mirror this boy had helped me steal for Naminé. It was a lot smaller than I had expected; it was only the size of a pocket watch.

"Why are you helping Naminé?" he asked again, but a bit louder than our usual whisper now.

"I want to help her because…" I trailed off. I couldn't finish the sentence. I heard the boy turn towards me.

"Why? Because you like her?" he asked, his voice taunting. I could hear the smirk he was probably wearing.

"No," I said.

"So you hate her?" the boy asked, confused.

"No, I don't hate her. I don't like her. I … I love her," I confessed, feeling my face turn red.

Silence endured as time slowly passed. Neither of us moved.

"What about you?" I asked quickly. "Why are you helping her? You don't even know me." I heard the boy move.

"No, but I know Naminé. She endured this prison Maleficent likes to call a kingdom with me. She's been my best friend, since we were both seven. She's always been there for me, and we always dreamed of escaping when we were little, but I never thought either of us would actually go for it," he whispered. "Come on, let's keep walking." He began walking. I followed.

Suddenly a thought occurred to me. "How come she's stuck as a seven-year-old and you have a normal fifteen-year-old body?" I asked, suddenly angry that Naminé had to endure that and he didn't.

"It wasn't by choice. Maleficent wanted me for fighting. She says I have potential when it comes to wielding the darkness," the boy replied, smirking.

"So you fought for her…for that _monster_?" I practically hissed.

"Of course I did. I didn't want to die. And if I did die, who would've been there for Naminé? She would be so lonely. You know, she went to your dimension while I was on a long trip away. She really must have felt alone." I pitied the poor boy. He felt so horrible, I could see that, and he looked so upset.

"Well, I'll be sure to tell her you helped me. What's your name?" I asked. The boy stopped walking. I stopped alongside him.

That's when I saw it. There was a body lying on the ground. The long, blonde hair flowed down to the girl's waist. She looked so pale and vulnerable.

"What is-!" I began to scream until the boy covered my mouth, and forced me to stop flailing. I recognized the body. It was the fifteen-year-old version of her. It's what she would look like now. The helpless girl lying on the ground was fifteen-year-old Naminé.

"Maleficent had to keep the body somewhere, right?" the boy said. "Poor little Naminé probably had to pass herself on her way out of the dimension."

"What?" I asked after he had uncovered my mouth. He knew I had heard him; I was just so hopelessly lost and confused. _What had Naminé been put through with that witch ordering her around? _

"Let's go, we're almost back to your home," the boy said, his voice suddenly cold and quiet.

"Thank you so much for all of your help," I said to the boy.

"No problem. Give Naminé my regards," he replied.

"I will. What's your name?" I asked. The boy paused, smiling sadly.

"Just tell her that her best friend misses her and loves her dearly," he said sadly, before vanishing.

I opened my eyes to bright light, and my vision was blurred. I blinked, slowly clearing my vision.

"He's awake!"

"He is? Oh, thank goodness! Riku, honey, thank goodness!"

"Riku? I missed you so much, kid."

"W-what?" I stammered, unsure of what to do. Once my vision cleared, I looked up. Surrounding me were my mom, dad, and Naminé. Except, this wasn't the Naminé I knew. This was the girl the golden-eyed boy and I had passed right before we left the dark realm.

"Nami! What happened to you? Where's the mirror? Where am I?" I gasped and sat up.

My mother and father looked to each other, confused. Naminé smiled, and put a single finger up to her lips, telling me to keep quiet.

"You're in the hospital. We wanted to make sure you were fine. I don't know where the mirror is, but I'm so happy you're back, Riku! I missed you so much," my mom said, hugging me. I could tell she was about to cry, and she left the room. My dad, looking worried, followed her.

"Nami, what happened?" I asked once my dad had left and shut the door.

Naminé sat in a chair next to my bed. "I found you in the alley I first met you in. You were lying on the floor, asleep; holding that mirror like your life depended on it. I looked into the mirror and changed myself from seven to fifteen," Naminé explained, looking at me strangely.

"Why does no one but me remember you being seven?" I asked, seriously confused.

"That's the thing about the mirror," Naminé replied, looking away. "Only people that know about the mirror remember before. Everyone but you and I remember me always being fifteen, not seven."

"Why am I in the hospital? I'm fine," I said.

"Your parents don't think so. Just be grateful that they love you so much to do this for you."

"They do love me a lot, don't they?" That fact gave me a sense of peace. _The drugs must be getting to my head. _

"Yes, they do .They wouldn't stop talking about you, refusing you were gone. You were away for a few weeks, you know that?" Naminé said quietly.

"You know who loves you?" I asked Naminé. She turned to face me.

"Who?" She asked, looking curious.

"Well, he wouldn't tell me his name, but he said to tell you that your best friend loves you and misses you dearly." _I do, too. But I can't say that. _

"H-he did?" Naminé's eyes started to tear up.

"Yes. Don't cry, please," I said, opening my arms, offering her a hug.

"I won't. I'm so happy you're back," she said, receiving my offered hug. "I missed you so much, Riku."


	17. Xion: Broken Family

***Xion***

It was a week before Valentine's Day, and while many people were talking about that, more people were interested in who appeared at school that day.

"Riku!" Kairi screamed, running over to her friend and giving him a big hug. Riku laughed and smiled, looking down at her. Sora went over and gave Riku a high-five. Axel followed Sora, and also high-fived Riku.

Roxas and I sat next to each other at a table with Hayner, Pence, and Olette and all of five of us were silently watching this scene. Well, everyone in the cafeteria was. Riku and his friends were making a big scene, and secretly, everyone had missed Riku. We had missed his cool and intimidating yet familiar presence.

"He's back? I thought he got expelled and had to switch schools," Roxas said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Where'd you get that idea?" Hayner asked, glaring at Roxas. "I didn't hear that rumor."

"I didn't say it was a rumor," Roxas said slowly. "I just said it was what I_ thought_."

"Calm down, you two, please," Olette said, stopping the fight before it began. She looked at Hayner worriedly.

"He started it," Hayner said, crossing his arms angrily. I laughed at his childish outburst. Once he realized I was laughing at him, Hayner glared at me. This only led to me laughing harder.

"Roxas, what happened at lunch?" I asked him as we were walking home with Axel. "You seemed upset."

"Oh, um, nothing," Roxas replied, turning away. _Is he hiding something from me? I hope not. _

"Oh, really? You know, you shouldn't keep secrets from your _girlfriend_, Roxas," Axel teased. I couldn't help but blush.

"I'm _not_, okay?" Roxas shouted, stopping in his tracks. He threw his backpack to the ground. His hands clenched into fists, and he stared at the ground and shook with an anger I'd never seen in him before.

"Roxas!" I gasped, stepping forward.

"Don't _touch_ me!" he shouted. I stumbled backwards, straight into Axel.

"Roxas, please, calm down," Axel said. "I wasn't trying to make you mad, I swear. I was just messing with you. I'm sorry."

"You think you're so much _better_ than me, don't you, Axel?" Roxas shouted. He began slowly stepping closer to Axel and me. "Just because you're older, you think you know better, and you think I'm just some little kid. Well, I'm _sick _of you and your ego!" Axel put his hand on my shoulder, and pushed me behind his body.

"Roxas, please stop. This isn't a good way to solve things, and especially not with Xion in harm's way," Axel said through clenched teeth.

"This is what I'm talking about. You try to make me sound like I'm stupid by going and saying stuff like that!"

"Roxas, stop it!" I said as tears came to my eyes.

Roxas stopped walking, and turned to look at me. He looked at me sadly before turning away. "Xion, it's over. We're done," Roxas whispered.

"W-what?" I asked, tears streaming down my face. _D-did he just break up with me? _

"As for you, I _hate_ you, Axel!" Roxas shouted, raising his arm to hit Axel. I screamed and cowered, shutting my eyes, silently willing this all to stop.

I waited to hear the impact, or at least Axel stopping the blow from hitting him. I slowly opened my eyes to see a tall, muscular man holding Roxas's arm, keeping it frozen in midair.

The person who stopped Roxas was a tall young man with brown hair that reached to the base of his neck in the back and was styled into rather messy, vertical spikes and bangs that framed his face. He had blue eyes and slightly tanned skin.

"Watch it, kid. Delinquents aren't welcome here," the man said. I was surprised at how deep, yet soft his voice was. I know I should be used to men having deep voices, but honestly, it still threw me off a bit.

"Wh-who are you?" Roxas asked, still angry. He slowly turned to face the man. You could see that Roxas was terrified. I was, too. I clutched the back of Axel's shirt, staying behind him.

"That's what I should be asking you. Roxas, is it? I've heard about you from your old man," the man smirked.

"You know my dad?"

"Yeah; he's my boss. I'm sure he'd love to hear that you were about to get into a fight. Don't you agree?" The man was threatening Roxas. _What does this guy want? Is he just messing around with Roxas, or is he serious? _

"What do you want with me?"Roxas shouted, voicing my thoughts. "What's your name, anyways?"

"I guess you deserve to know that much. I'm Terra. You should really respect your father, kid. He works so hard to support you. Sadly, you're just an ingrate who doesn't deserve his love. I was expecting a better son from such a noble man." Terra lowered Roxas's arm, but I noticed he didn't let go.

"I don't need your crap, Terra! I don't get why you people like to downgrade every little thing I do!" Roxas shouted.

"You, go home," Terra said, staring at me.

"M-me?" I asked nervously. Terra nodded.

"You stay here. I want this explained to me," Terra said to Axel. I left, seeing that I had no choice. I didn't want to get involved in that anyways.

The door to the apartment that I shared with Kairi was unlocked. I thought this was weird. Kairi always locked the door because she was so paranoid. Also, I knew she would be out spending time with Riku today.

When I walked in, I smelled food. _Someone's definitely here and they've been here for a while. But, really, what kind of burglar stops to make a meal for themselves? Isn't that kind of stupid? _

I cautiously walked into my apartment, shut the door behind myself, and crept into the kitchen. Standing at the stove was a blue-haired, blue-eyed woman that I immediately recognized. It was my older sister, Aqua. She noticed me awkwardly standing there, staring at her, and turned to look at me.

"Oh, Xi, you're finally home," Aqua said, smiling warmly. Xi had always been her nickname for me since we were kids.

"Hi, Aqua," I said. I was still a little freaked out that she had broken into my house without warning. "What're you making?" I asked.

"Nothing special; just found some instant ramen and got hungry. I hope you don't mind."

"Uh, no, that's fine." _My classy, sophisticated older sister settled for instant noodles? What's gotten into her? _I set my things on a nearby chair. Aqua was five years older than me, and our age difference was part of the reason we had never become friends.

"It's great to see you're doing so well, Xi," Aqua smiled at me.

"You too, Aqua. I'm glad to see you and all, but why are you here? This isn't like you to stop by without warning. I don't mean to offend you," I said. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, actually," Aqua said casually while turning off the stovetop, and getting a bowl out of the cabinet.

"Really? What is it?" Suddenly, Roxas almost getting into a fight, but Terra stopping him flashed into my mind.

"It's about Mom and Dad," Aqua said, spooning ramen into her bowl.

"Do they want me to go home? I like it here! I don't want to leave!" I cried anxiously, standing up. Aqua continued to silently serve herself ramen.

"Calm down, Xi," she said when she decided her portion was large enough. "They don't want you to go home. They never do."

"W-what?" _Do they hate me or something? What's going on? _I sat back down.

"You're a very smart girl, Xion, so I'm not going to play games with you. I'm just going to get straight to the point." Aqua put her bowl on the table, and walked over to me.

"Just spit it out, Aqua!" I yelled at her angrily. She kneeled before me and took my hands in hers.

"Mom and Dad died in an accident last weekend, Xi. I'm so sorry you had to find out this way," Aqua whispered as a tear slid down her cheek.

"Get out of my house, Aqua," I said coldly, staring at my lap.

"What? Why?" Aqua, confused, stood up, and in the process, let go of my hands.

"First you break into my house without permission, eat my food, and tell me lies. What kind of a sister _are_ you?" I said, trying to make her feel guilty. _She's lying to me about Mom and Dad being dead. She has to be. Mom and Dad couldn't have died. They promised they would come to my graduation here on Destiny Islands. They promised! _

"I'm sorry, Xion. I really wish I was lying to you. I honestly wish I was," Aqua said as more tears began streaming down her face. She came up to me and hugged me tightly. I buried my face into her shoulder and began wailing and sobbing and screaming all at the same time.

My parents were very famous scholars. Our family of four lived on Destiny Islands until a few years ago, when my parents moved to Hollow Bastion, as they were needed there. Aqua had already moved out, so I was left alone on Destiny Islands.

Because my parents were so famous, they weren't home most of my life and never had time for me. I was put in daycare as soon as I could walk, according to Aqua. She was 'Daddy's Little Girl' and I was just the little kid they rarely paid attention to. Aqua was showered with gifts, and while I was, too, they were never things I liked. My parents didn't pay attention to me or my interests, but they did to Aqua.

Aqua tried to be my friend, but I hated her with all of my heart. I hated that she got attention and love while I barely got recognition. I thought she would shun me, just like our parents, so I refused to speak to her.

Growing up, because I felt so shunned by my family, I thought everyone else would shun me, too. I never tried to make any friends in school or around town. I always sat to the side while everyone else played or ate lunch together. Once I entered middle school, though, Axel became my friend. He was an outsider and loner, just like I was. I thought he was the only friend I could ever have because we were both so lonely.

My parents started all of this hate and loneliness inside of me. From there, it just continued to build up. I still feel lonely a lot, and knowing it's their fault, I'm not sure why I'm sad that they're dead. I wasn't sure why I wasn't angry to see Aqua. Maybe I thought I could've had a chance to get along with the three of them. Maybe I realized we never would again have that chance.

It doesn't matter what I think or thought anymore.

All that matters is that my parents are dead, and my 20-year-old sister is all that I've got left of my broken family.


	18. Axel: Helping Xion

***Axel***

"The kid's a jerk! He got into a fight with me and broke up with his girlfriend, my best friend, while in the fight! You're just going to let him go?" I demanded. _Come on, Terra, side with me. Roxas can't get away after what he did to Xion!_

"Yes, I'm letting him go. He didn't harm anyone. I will report this to his father, if that makes you feel better," Terra said calmly.

"Bull!" I stood up and brought my fist down on the table with anger. "I want that kid locked up!" I yelled. _I know I'm being harsh, but I seriously hate Roxas. _

"Axel, if you keep this up, I'm going to ask you to leave," Terra said, staring coldly at me. "This _is_ my house," he reminded me.

"I know," I replied, looking around. Terra lived alone, in a small apartment. It was surprisingly simple. I'm not sure what I expected, but it was definitely more elaborate than this. Almost nothing was on the walls, and there were very few pieces of furniture, only the necessary ones.

"You haven't stopped looking around since Roxas left. Are you interested or surprised by my apartment?" Terra asked playfully.

"Both. I think I expected you to have samurai stuff or something," I admitted. My anger had mostly drained for some reason. "You do seem like the martial arts type."

Terra laughed loudly. He seemed to be releasing something – stress? - when he laughed.

"Terra, do you…have a… girlfriend?" I asked.

"What? Axel, are you…?" Terra was taken aback by my question, obviously. It took me a second to realize what he meant.

"No! Not at all! I'm just asking because you seem really lonely," I said.

"Oh." Terra looked down sadly. "I did, but she broke up with me shortly before I moved here."

"Will you tell me about her?" I asked. Terra seemed lonely, and that made me feel bad for him, and want to be his friend.

His eyes lit up. "She's absolutely amazing and beautiful. She's so kind, and she'd risk everything just for her friends. Her little sister is the cutest, too. What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No," I admitted. "The girl I like will never like me that way."

"So I guess we can understand each other a little," Terra said, smiling at me. I nodded.

"Xion, I'm coming in," I said, opening the door to her apartment. I came to check on her because after the way Roxas treated her, she was probably a wreck.

The apartment was silent, which meant it was empty. _Why was the door unlocked? Xion and Kairi always lock it before they leave. Oh, my gosh, is Xion okay? _

"Xion!" I shouted. _Where is she? _

"Oh, hello. Who are you?" a voice asked. I turned to see a tall, blue-haired, blue-eyed woman staring at me with a confused expression.

Not knowing what to do, I just stared at her. _She and Xion have the same eyes. Now that I think about it, they do look quite a bit alike. Are they family? Maybe this woman is her mother? No, she looks too young to be a mother. _

"Where's Xion?" I managed to come up with.

"She's…resting. Who are you?" The woman asked slowly, obviously suspicious.

"I'm Axel, Xion's friend. Can I go talk to her? I need to make sure she's okay," I said. The woman's eyes widened.

"How did you hear?" she whispered, stepping towards me. She looked angry, but still confused.

"What? I was there when it happened. How would I not know?" _Who is this lady? Is she sick in the head?_

"How were you there?" The woman was shocked.

"Um…what are you talking about?" I asked.

"Xion and I… Our parents died last week," the woman said while looking away sadly. _She seems dramatic._

"What? Oh, my gosh. The poor girl! Her boyfriend broke up with her today, too," I said. _How is Xion going to get through this? I need to help her. I need to talk to her!_

"Thank you so much for coming to see me, Axel," Xion said, hugging me.

"No problem, buddy," I said, smiling at her. The blue-haired woman had turned out to be Xion's older sister, and her name was Aqua. She finally let Kairi - who had come home right after I had talked with Aqua - and I see Xion.

"Xion, tomorrow's Saturday, right? Do you want to do something together? Or maybe the four of us could go somewhere!" Kairi exclaimed nervously. We were all nervous. We didn't want to trigger any unpleasant emotions in Xion.

"Yeah, that'd be nice," Xion said, smiling. "You know, you guys don't have to be so stiff and nervous. Yes, I'm upset right now, but you don't have to be so careful. I'm still the same me."

"What? How'd you know we-?" I began, but couldn't finish.

"I know you two, Axel and Kairi. You're really laid-back and Kairi doesn't invite me places," Xion pointed out with a laugh.

"Do you feel as dumb as I do right now?" I asked Kairi. She nodded.

"Well, Xion _is_ pretty smart, you know," Aqua said, walking into the room with a glass of water.

"Oh, I get served, too? Why don't you stay forever, Aqua? I could use a few more servants!" Xion said sarcastically, smiling.

"Oh, Xi, you're so funny," Aqua laughed. She'd been tense this entire time, and I knew that she wasn't going to give it up just because Xion said to. I knew that their history wasn't good, for Xion had never even _mentioned_ Aqua, and Xion loved to talk about those who made her happy, even if it was just a bum on the street that smiled at her.

_Just what have they been through? They're both so tense around each other. While Aqua looks like she loves and cares about Xion, Xion just stares at her sister with a faraway look in her eyes that's almost hostile. That look isn't natural in Xion._

"Either way, we should still do something tomorrow, Xion! What do you want to do? Should we go somewhere?" Kairi asked, breaking the silence that had formed.

Xion nodded.

Xion came to me crying after school on Monday. I pulled her into a quick hug, then helped her calm down before asking her to explain what had happened.

"Can we talk about this in private, please?" she asked, her voice cracking and her eyes glossy with the oncoming tears.

_Crap, this is serious. Xion really needs me. What place calms her down? It's not warm enough for the beach, is it? Let's see, it's mid-February. No, it's not warm enough. We could go to town? Uh, no. Aqua's waiting back at her place, so we can't go there. Oh, I know! _

"Xion, I'm going to take you somewhere to talk about this, okay?" I said calmly.

"W-what? Where are we going?" she asked between sniffles.

"You'll see," I said, smiling. I hoped I was comforting her. I hated seeing her like this. It broke my heart.

I was nervous to knock on the door once I got to it. Before, I had this all figured out, but once we got here, I had lost my courage and felt myself go weak.

I knocked on the door once, lightly. Then three times, harder.

Xion and I stood there, waiting. She was sniffling and I was mentally panicking.

The door opened and Terra peered out. I saw Xion's eyes widen.

"Axel? What are you doing here?" Terra asked, looking surprised.

"Um, well, can we come in? Please?" I asked, considering getting down on my knees to beg.

Terra paused, studying Xion and me. Eventually, he relaxed and gestured for us to come in.

Xion and I stepped inside, and I noticed her looking around, like I had been the first time I came here.

"Do you guys want anything to drink?" Terra asked.

"Just water, please," I requested. "One for her too, as well, please."

Terra brought us two glasses of water, told us to sit down at the table, and left. I guess he knew I wanted to talk to her alone.

Now in private, she explained that it was several things coming together to upset her. First of all, her Roxas problem was an issue. She had not finished a huge assignment on time for one class and was really stressed about that. Also, Aqua showing up and reminding her of her horrible past upset her. She felt like she was a failure for not being able to face her past. She said that wasn't the only reason. She felt she wasn't good enough for Roxas, her honors classes, me, or anything else. She had begun crying and sobbing loudly after pouring her heart out.

I stood up, walked over to her, and hugged her. I let her sit there and cry on my shoulder for a little while. I finally stepped back and looked at her.

"Xion, don't give up on yourself. I know it gets hard. It really does. But you always have me, I promise. I love you and will help you in _any_ way I can. You are not a failure. I believe in you, Xion," I said slowly and calmly, hoping to soothe her.

She had gone dead quiet. She was staring at me, tears still silently running down her face, her hair pressed against the wet tracks her tears had left. Her hands were close to her face, hovering. She looked genuinely shocked and surprised.

She stood up and threw her arms around me. I returned the hug, hoping to calm her even more.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much. I don't know how to tell you what this means to me, Axel. What would I do without you?"

"Well, that's what I'm here for: you," I said, glad I could help her feel better.

I looked up and saw Terra leaning against the wall, staring at us, smiling. He wasn't staring at us, but instead seemed to be staring into the past, at some cherished memory.

"Did you really mean everything you said?" Xion said. We were once again sitting at Terra's table.

"Of course, Xion! In fact, you're so much better than what I said. I'd really like to crush Roxas's puny face for you right now," I said, smirking.

Xion laughed. When she did so, I realized it was the first time in a while I had seen her smile at all, let alone laugh. However, there was still evidence of her crying, so it kind of ruined my realization.

"Thanks, Axel. I wasn't sure how I was going to deal with my problems, but I now know that everything will be okay, as long as we're best friends," Xion said, smiling. I nodded in agreement.


	19. Olette: New Girl

*Olette*

"Do you see that new girl over there?" Selphie asked, pointing across the cafeteria.

"Yes, Selphie, I do. Now stop pointing!" I replied, rolling my eyes.

"You two have the weirdest arguments, I swear," Xion said with a laugh. I was sitting with Selphie and Xion at lunch because honestly, I needed a break from Pence, Hayner, and Roxas, especially because there had been building tension between Hayner and Roxas recently.

I looked at the girl Selphie had pointed out – the new girl, as everyone simply called her. She was beautiful. She had long, blonde hair and bright, glowing blue eyes. She had pale skin and looked so dainty. I had already seen some guys staring at her with lust and girls staring at her out of envy.

She seemed quiet and very on-task. She had yet to look at any student, let alone talk to them. She had gone up to each teacher to make sure she got the correct needed papers and was now looking through them, sipping water from her water bottle.

"Why don't we go over and talk to her?" Xion suggested.

"Why?" Selphie asked, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Trust me. I know what it's like to be lonely. She'll enjoy having someone talk to her. Plus, she could be such an awesome person and we'll never know because we never talked to her," Xion said, staring straight at Selphie throughout her entire mini-speech. "Don't you agree, Olette?"

"Sure!" I said. "Let's go talk to her."

"Ugh, fine. I'm coming," Selphie said, picking up her backpack and slinging it over one shoulder.

We all sat down around the girl, and she lifted her head from her papers to stare at us for a second until going back to reading whatever was so interesting to her.

Selphie, Xion, and I looked to each for some sort of explanation as to what to do now. Finally, Xion broke the silence.

"Um, hi. My name's Xion. What's yours?" Xion asked slowly.

The girl looked up at us and I was surprised at how blank and haunting she kept her expression. "My name is Nami. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, almost carefully.

"These are my friends, Selphie and Olette," Xion said, pointing to us. "We came over here to talk to you because we thought you might like some friends."

"Thank you for thinking of me," Nami said, going back to her papers. She tucked her hair behind her ear. _At least she's polite, as well as being gorgeous._

"Um, do you want us to go away? You seem pretty interested in that," Selphie asked, obviously annoyed. I pinched her leg. She shot me an angry look.

"No, it's not that," Nami said. "I just…I just have a lot to catch up on." Now she sounded worried.

"Like what?" I asked, eager to join in on this conversation.

Nami looked nervous now. "My-my old school wasn't exactly up to date with academics."

"What was your old school called?" Xion asked.

"Um, it was on a different world, so you probably haven't heard of it," Nami nervously said, still staring intently at her precious papers.

"Oh, okay," Xion replied.

I was curious now. Nami seemed intent on hiding her past and closing everyone out. Maybe Xion and I could change that? No offense to Selphie, but we all knew she was useless when she wasn't completely and absolutely dedicated to something.

"Can I see your schedule, please?" Xion asked Nami. "I want to see if you have classes with any of us."

"I have Advanced Chemistry with you, Xion," Nami said quietly before gathering her things and leaving us sitting there at that lunch table, dumbfounded.

"She's hiding something," Selphie said, voicing what I'm sure we were all thinking.

The day after the lunch incident, Xion finally confessed.

"Nami's staying with me and my roommate," Xion said.

"What? Really?" Selphie shrieked.

"Why didn't you tell us?" I asked, irritated.

"It didn't happen until recently! Nami needed a place to stay, and we had a spare room, so we gave it to her," Xion explained.

"Speaking of Nami, have you noticed that white-haired eleventh-grader keeps looking at her?" Selphie asked with a laugh.

"You mean Riku?" I asked.

"Yeah, he keeps staring at her, but looks away really fast, like he's not supposed to," Selphie said, picking at her lunch.

"Well, the Valentine's Day dance _is_ this Friday, you know," Xion pointed out.

"I guess you're right, but it's still weird. I mean, Riku is all cool and never shows interest in really anything. So, this must be a first or something," Selphie said. Now she was just babbling, and I began to tune her out.

I stood up. "Let's go," I said.

"Where to?" Xion asked, also standing up.

"To Nami, of course. We're going to make sure she has friends," I said. That was my new mission: get Nami to open up and become comfortable here; or at least with us.

"Again? Geez, would you two just let it go? She obviously doesn't like us." Selphie whined.

"Oh, come _on_, Selphie! There's nothing wrong with helping her," I said. I was really getting ticked off at Selphie now.

Selphie gave in and walked over to Nami with us. We sat down around her again. This time, I sat next to Nami, while Xion and Selphie sat across from us. This time, Nami was writing in a spiral notebook.

Nami looked up at us. "You're back again?" she asked.

Xion smiled and nodded.

"Why? Why do you want to help me? You know nothing about me. You don't know if I'm a good or bad person. You have nothing making you help me, so why are you doing so?" Nami asked, emotion flooding her voice while her face stayed blank. She moved her hair, placing it neatly over her right shoulder.

"Riku doesn't seem to think you're such a bad person," Selphie giggled. "He hasn't stopped looking at you today!"

Nami blushed and bit her lip.

"So you like him, too? We should totally hook you two up!" Selphie whispered. But Selphie's version of whispering was talking at a normal level, so she wasn't actually that quiet.

"No, that's okay. I don't even like him, anyways," Nami said, looking away.

"Liar!" Selphie hissed.

"Oh, no. Selphie, leave the poor girl alone! What did she do to you?" Xion asked.

"Besides, you're not exactly Cupid, you know," I added.

"Come _on_, you guys! Can't you let me have a little fun?" Selphie pouted.

"No," Xion said flatly. Selphie's response was extremely childish. She folded her arms across her chest, looked away, and refused to talk to us.

"Um, actually…" Nami whispered, blushing.

"What?" I asked, silently willing her to continue.

"He already asked me to the dance this Friday," Nami admitted, her usually pale face now completely red.

"And what did you say?" Selphie asked, suddenly interested again now that romance was involved.

"I declined." _Who says 'declined'?_

"Why? He's so popular!" Selphie cried, shocked.

"Is that really what you guys care about: popularity? I'm not interested in dating _or _being popular. I'm here to get an education and continue with my life," Nami said, packing up her things.

"You and Xion could be best friends!" Selphie giggled.

"Selphie, _shut. Up._ No one wants to hear anymore of your crap. So just cut it out already!" a voice said angrily.

I turned around to see Hayner. We made eye contact just before he looked down, his eyes full of sorrow, and walked away quickly.

"I need to go," I said, getting up to follower Hayner. _Something's wrong with him. Did I do something? _

"Hayner!" I yelled, running after him in the hallway.

He stopped, but didn't say anything.

"What?" he whispered, his voice cracking. _Is he going to cry?_

"Hayner, are you okay? You looked really upset back in the cafeteria. I was worried," I said, catching up to him. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"I-it's nothing. Roxas just got me really mad again," Hayner laughed, but I could tell he was faking it.

"No, it's something. You're not mad, you're sad. There's a difference, Hayner. Come on, I'm your best friend; you can tell me," I said, silently pleading for him to be alright.

He lifted his brown eyes, which looked at my bright green ones. He stared at me with such intensity, I was surprised. There was something seriously bugging him.

"If Roxas asked you out, what would you say?" Hayner blurted.

"What?"

"You heard me." Now he was angry.

"I'd decline," I said, smiling, remembering Nami using that word.

"Are you sure?" He looked surprised.

"Yeah. Roxas is a jerk. He broke Xion and Kairi's hearts, and he really bothers you. I'm not risking good friendships just for maybe a month with Roxas. You know?"

"Oh. That's a good way to look at it, I guess. Yeah…it is." He seemed satisfied, but still sad.

"Hayner…" I didn't know what to say, so I stopped there.

"Olette, before it's too late, will you go to the Valentine's Day dance with me on Friday?" Hayner asked, his face going bright red.

I laughed and said, "I'd love to."

_Wait, what? "Before it's too late"? What does that mean?_

It was right then and then there that Pence's words came back to me: _"I think Hayner might be thinking about suicide." _

I froze in horror as I realized why Hayner was actually sad.


	20. Pence: Valentine's Day Gone Awry

*Pence*

"Olette, I heard that you're going to the dance tomorrow with Hayner. Is that true?" I asked, honestly surprised. I had sort of been planning to ask Olette, but my nervousness got the best of me at the last second and Hayner had beat me to it, according to him, at least.

Olette laughed nervously and nodded yes.

"Well, I feel pain for you, Olette," I said, feigning sadness. I may be the peaceful one in our group of three, but that didn't mean I had no sense of humor. Plus, I was jealous of the lucky jerk that got to go with Olette.

We were walking home together, but Olette suddenly stopped. "Hey, that's rude!" she said defensively, almost nervously.

"Um, are you okay? You've been kind of nervous these past few days, and I'm worried," I said as Olette began to walk again.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Olette trailed off, obviously thinking.

"You're fine, but…?"

"But Hayner's not," she blurted out suddenly. It surprised me.

"What do you mean?" I asked, lifting my eyebrows.

Her big, bright green eyes nearly pierced my own brown ones because of the heavy amount of sorrow they carried.

"Olette…" I said, grabbing her by the arm. I could see something was really wrong, and I wanted to intervene and make her happy again.

"Do you remember when you called me back in December or so and you said you thought Hayner wanted to kill himself?"

"Olette, I think he's changed his mind since then. Plus, I had no evidence," I said quietly.

"No, his mind's made up. He's even more set on it now. He's going to kill himself soon, I just know it," Olette finished with tears streaming down her face.

"Okay, calm down, Olette," I said, putting my hands on her shoulders and facing her. "How do you know he's going to?"

"When he asked me to go to the dance with him, he said 'before it's too late'. At first, I didn't notice, but then I realized what it meant. Like he'd never get another chance for this. I just couldn't live with myself not telling anyone. I'm so scared, Pence!" She was full-on sobbing now.

"Okay, we'll talk to him tomorrow. Don't just come out and mention it, Olette. Let me talk to him, okay? Everything will be fine," I said, giving her a quick hug for comfort.

She wiped tears from her eyes and agreed. The rest of the walk home was silent and awkward. She wouldn't stop worrying for the rest of Hayner's life, I knew.

"Hey, Hayner, you still upset about that Olette thing? " I mentioned at lunch, casually. Roxas had stopped sitting with us, and Olette was sitting with Xion, Selphie, and Nami, so it was just Hayner and me. "I mean, you are going to the Valentine's Day dance with her."

"A little bit," Hayner admitted. "I mean, I'm psyched that she's going to the dance with me and everything, but I think she just said yes out of pity."

_You jerk, you're making her cry! You're not worth her tears, if you're going to act like this. Olette doesn't deserve to cry. _

"Why would you think that?" I asked, partially surprised, partially furious.

"I don't want to sound rude or anything, but she's never showed interest in me as anything beyond as a friend. Not even as a best friend. Gosh, I'm just that pathetic, aren't I? I just screw everything up. Including Olette's life. I should really stop this, but I don't know how to. Any ideas, Pence?" Hayner put a little laugh in at the end to make it positive, but it wasn't helping.

_Olette's right. He feels horrible about himself. I need to do something._

"Hayner-"

"I have to go. I'm sorry, Pence, but I need to go work on a project for, um, math. Bye," Hayner said. And with that, he was gone.

_What do I tell Olette? He knows that we know, so he's avoiding us. Crap, this is complicated._

"Pence!" Olette's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "How did it go with Hayner?" She had this huge, adorable smile on her face, and I wasn't about to ruin it.

"Good. It was just a false alarm," I said, faking the biggest smile ever. She flashed me a tooth-filled smile, thanked me, and walked away.

_I'm so, so, so sorry._

The next day, I (being the supportive best guy friend I am) went over to Olette's house with Selphie and Xion to help Olette get ready.

Xion was going with Axel, her best friend. Since this was merely a Valentine's Dance, most girls had opted for shorter dresses. Xion was wearing a knee-length black gown. I, not knowing much at all about dresses, told her she looked "fancy".

Selphie was going to the dance with Tidus. She and Tidus had grown up together and made that cheesy promise that they were going to get married when they got older. So far, the two were inseparable and seemed like they would fulfill their promise. Selphie, who had made it clear the day that I met her that her favorite color was yellow, was wearing a thigh-length, bright yellow dress.

Olette looked absolutely adorable. She had curled her hair, which made her look almost elegant. She had on a light pink dress which ruffled around her waist. She had a matching fake flower in her hair. She looked…like a girl, not just a tomboy. I loved it.

"You look…amazing, Olette," I said, nearly speechless.

She blushed. "Thanks. I hope Hayner thinks so, too," Olette giggled nervously. She really seemed to want to impress him.

The doorbell rang, and Olette's face went from pink to bright red as Xion ran to get it. The girls' dates were here. I was going to stay home, because this was not my type of thing, but I was going to see them all off anyways.

Axel, Hayner and Tidus stood in the doorway, just as speechless as I was. They were all eyeing their dates, gaping.

"Well, off you go! Have fun, everyone!" I exclaimed, staring straight at Hayner. _Please don't worry Olette. ._

Olette called me and started screaming and sobbing the second I picked up. I asked her what was going on, now worried and scared.

"Hayner and I were video chatting, like usual, but then-!" Olette began, but her choking sobs began to take over.

"Olette, calm down," I said, trying to calm myself.

"No! Hayner! He told me that he wasn't worth anything, and then started taking pill after pill after pill after pill and I've been trying to get him to vomit it back up, but he won't! He started to lie down in bed and closed his eyes! Pence, HELP!"

"Olette, you keep talking to him. I'm going to call an ambulance, okay?" I heard her mumble something that sounded similar to yes, then I hung up.

_I need to think fast. What should I do? I know that I need to call an ambulance, but what do I do after that? _

I grabbed my phone and slipped on a jacket and ran towards Hayner's house as fast as I could.

I dialed the emergency number with shaking hands and as soon as they picked up, I repeated what Olette had told me. They asked me for Hayner's address, which I gave them just before we said goodbye and hung up.

I felt a little more relieved knowing I was doing something to majorly help with Hayner's situation.

Still, I was worried. But I wanted Hayner to be okay. As much as he annoyed me, I thought he was really funny. And, even though, at times, I hated him, I really did care about him. He was one of my best friends, after all.

When I got to Hayner's house, Olette was sitting on his front porch, staring into the distance, tears streaming down her face.

Just seeing her like this, and feeling similar, I ran up to his door and began kicking it with all of my might.

"Hayner, open up! Hayner, I know you're in there! HAYNER! _HAYNER!_" I screamed through his door. I kept repeating his name over and over, until the police pulled me away. They kicked down the door and ran in.

I sat next to Olette and pulled her into a big hug. We sat there together, silently crying.

As we sat in the waiting room, I realized something, and it made me laugh.

"What are you laughing about, Pence? This is serious!" Olette hissed.

"This is the second time this year that the three of us have been in the hospital. And last time, it was for Hayner, too," I pointed out.

"That is sick and twisted, but actually funny," Olette said. She was tired and her eyes were puffy and red from crying for so long. Neither of us had tears left.

Hayner's parents were waiting with us, and they obviously didn't find my joke funny, but I'm sure they were just nervous and upset, too.

"Do you think he's okay?" Hayner's mother blurted out. Her husband rubbed her hand and shut his eyes, fighting back tears.

"Honestly?" I asked quietly.

"Honestly," she said, nodding.

"I don't know. We can only hope for the best," I truthfully said.

But, sometimes, the truth hurts more than any lie.

It was almost like watching someone else's life, not my own. The doctors came out and told this sad bunch of people that their son or best friend was dead, and there was nothing they could do now. The people cried and just sat there, staring at the wall. They didn't know what to do. A loved one was dead. At one point, they went home and just sat there, staring even more. They didn't know what to do with their lives.

But one thing was clear to them: they had to make sure this never happened again.


	21. Yuffie: Emotion

*Yuffie*

"So, you're sad about Hayner dying?" Sora asked me. He sounded angry. We were at school, eating lunch together.

"Well, duh! Someone I went to school with committed suicide. It just makes the fact that it could happen to any one of us even more real. Which is scary," I admitted, staring at the table.

Sora sighed and rolled his eyes.

"What about you? How do you feel about it?" I asked, knowing he wanted to talk about it. I began to unwrap whatever the heck was for lunch today. Sora always brought a lunch from home, and was today picking at his ham and cheese sandwich.

"I think it's stupid. His life was fine. He obviously wanted attention. I mean, why's everyone getting so worked up? They all hated him anyways!" Sora said, annoyed.

"Sora! People don't just end their lives for attention!" I scolded. "Once you're dead, that attention doesn't matter anymore, anyways. He obviously had problems. Everyone's getting worked up because someone we never expected to do this _did_. That means anyone around here could suddenly be gone."

"Here one day, gone the next…" Sora mumbled, staring out the cafeteria windows.

"What?" I asked, not sure if he had some deep meaning behind what he had just said.

"N-nothing. I didn't say anything," Sora said quickly, refusing to look at me. "So, what's your mystery food today?"

"Oh!" I hadn't yet unwrapped my lunch. "Some type of poisonous cheeseburger, or so it seems."

Good luck, Yuffie. I don't know why you're still alive, eating those."

_Hayner ate these, and he's dead now, _I thought, suddenly upset about eating school lunches.

"I – I didn't mean it like that! Yuffie, I'm sorry!" Sora exclaimed. I could tell he was being sincere, so I silently forgave him. However, I knew he still wasn't taking this as seriously as the rest of us were.

"Olette!" I called, running after her. School was over, and I was dragging Sora along with me to comfort Hayner's close friends: Olette and Pence. I figured Olette should be first, since, according to rumor, she was present during Hayner's death.

"Yuffie?" Olette asked, surprised. We didn't really know each other, and we definitely didn't hang out together. We belonged in two different social groups. We didn't even wear our uniforms similarly. I wore knee-high black socks with mine, while Olette wore white, shin-high socks. She wore the blazer over her white blouse, while I just rolled up the blouse's sleeves and wore it that way. To sum it up, we walked two very different paths that never crossed.

"Hi!" I said, and then stopped to catch my breath. "I just wanted to see how you're doing," I said, flashing her a smile. I kept a tight hold on the collar of Sora's shirt, in case he decided to run off.

"Thank you!" Olette replied, all smiles and sunshine. "You're actually the first person to ask me about it. Most people are avoiding Pence and me, like suicidal thoughts are contagious or something." Olette added a short laugh after this creepy joke.

_She's awfully cheery about this. This is suspicious… _

"Oh, okay. If you ever wanna, er, talk or something, you can come to Sora and me!" I said, plastering a fake smile on my face, knowing she'd never take me up on that offer. Olette nodded and smiled in reply, and then we parted ways.

"What was _that_?" Sora asked, obviously as confused as I was. I let go of his collar.

"Acting. On both of our parts," I said."There's no way she's that happy. Unless she's secretly some sick, twisted person, she was lying to us."

"So… does this mean she killed Hayner?" Sora asked.

"No! You idiot! Oh, my gosh, why would you even think that?!" I said, instinctively slapping Sora on his shoulder.

"Okay, calm down, please," Sora begged, rubbing his shoulder. "You're strong…"

"But, either way, his death was _serious_, Sora! And that's my point here. Not Olette's fake happiness. Now, come on, let's go."

I grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the school. I needed some new scenery. All this thinking was really hurting my brain.

"Sora, wanna go to the beach?" I asked, deciding the fresh sea-salt air would calm me down.

"Sure," Sora replied, not even asking why. I liked that about him: he never really questioned you, he just went with it. Well, most of the time, anyways.

"Come on!" I said, grabbing his wrist, and running off, dragging him behind me.

"Yuffie, slow down!" he whined, even though he knew I wouldn't. "Yuffie, you're squeezing my wrist; stop it!" His voice was serious; he wasn't playing around.

"Oh, sorry, Sora!" I gasped. I stopped running and let go. His wrist was red and Sora was staring at it. "I'm sorry, Sora!"

"Mmm, it's okay," Sora said. "You're stressed over Hayner's death, right? So it's understandable." He looked up at me and flashed a huge smile. "Man, you're _strong_!" he muttered.

"Can we get some ice cream? I want ice cream now," I said, changing the subject from both Hayner _and_ the pain I had inflicted on Sora.

"Sure. I know this great new place in town!" Sora said, jogging away. Suddenly feeling sad again, I followed.

"Yuffie!" a voice called my name. Tired, I turned around and saw _Kairi,_ of all people, coming up to greet me.

"H-hi, Kairi," I stuttered, waving. I was so confused and so tired. I had only gotten a few hours of sleep last night due to worrying and homework and now I wondered if I was actually hallucinating.

"Yuffie, how are you?" Kairi asked, giving me a quick hug, like we were old friends.

"I'm good," I lied. "What about you?"

"I'm good, thanks!" She chirped. "What about Sora; how is he doing?"

_And her real motive comes out. _Everyone knew Sora and Kairi hadn't been on good terms since September, when they had had a big fight. "Why?" I blurted, acting without thought.

"Well, Riku's been hanging out with his girlfriend, and I got lonely," Kairi admitted, pouting. A sudden wave of jealousy overtook me.

_That's low. Abandon him, and then go crawling back to him when _you _are abandoned. _

"Riku has a girlfriend?" I was genuinely surprised. Riku was always quiet and Kairi had always been the only girl he hung out with.

"Yup. That new girl, Nami, is going out with him now. It's strange that he'd date, let alone a tenth grader who just transferred to the school."

"Oh, okay. I have to go now. It was nice to talk to you," I said, waving as I walked away. Suddenly thinking of something, I turned around and called out, "If you want to know how Sora is, why don't you ask him?"

"Yuffie? _Yuf_-fie!"

"W-what?" I asked, instinctively jumping away from the source of the voice.

"Calm down, Yuffie! You're so jumpy today," Sora scolded, unlike himself.

"S-sorry," I muttered, staring at my navy blue skirt, blushing at my stupidity today.

"Anyways, is it true that you and Kairi were talking this morning?" he asked, cocking his head, reminding me of a puppy.

"Yeah. . . Why?" I asked as the jealousy came back to me.

"She came up and talked to me, mentioning that you two had talked and you told her to talk to me," Sora stated.

"What was it like talking to her again after so long?" I asked calmly, even though I wanted to scream. What had I done? Sora would go back to Kairi and leave me behind.

"It… it was really nice," he admitted, smiling that stupid, familiar smile of his. "Makes me regret not talking to her sooner. I think that we're going to become friends again." He suddenly looked nostalgic. I wondered if he regretted hanging out with me.

"Well, I'm happy for you, Sora!" I said, smiling. I gave him a quick hug and turned away. "Well, I need to get to class. Bye now!"

"Bye, Yuffie!" Sora called as I speed-walked away, feeling the hot tears begin to sting my eyes.

_I just gave away the one thing important to me to someone who doesn't deserve it. What have I done?! _


	22. Vanitas: Truth

One deep breath and I understood why Naminé had wanted to come here so badly. The salty breeze that tousled my spiky black hair was refreshing and pleasant. The distant sounds of waves lapping against the shore made me want to stand there and listen forever. Somehow, they made me think of a childhood I had never had. I couldn't blame Naminé for leaving; with a place like this, I would never want to go back to the past. Especially the horrible one we had once shared.

Remembering I had a reason for being here and a time limit, I turned away from the beach and began walking into the town, headed towards an unknown destination.

I had no idea what my plan was. There was no way I would be able to find her in this place. I didn't know my way around, and I had no idea where she was. While trying to come up with a plan, I bumped into a tall person.

"Sorry," I muttered, ducking my head and trying to avoid eye contact.

"Hey. It's been awhile," the voice said. It sounded kind, so I looked up. It was a tall teenage boy with intense aqua eyes. It took me awhile to recognize him, but when I did, I was amazed. Of all the people I had bumped into, I managed to find the one that knew me; the one I had helped through the Dark Realm. The one that loved my best friend and the girl I was searching for.

"Can you take me to her?" I asked. Realizing how rude and eager I sounded, I added, "If it's convenient, I mean."

"Sure thing," the boy answered. "I just have to run a few errands, but you can come with me. Oh, I'm Riku. What's your name?"

"Err..." I thought of what lie I should come up with. I knew Naminé went by Nami, so I said, "Van. My name is Van. How'd you know it was me, though?"

"I'd never forget the voice of the person who helped me through such a terrible place," Riku responded.

"So, after she changed back, she moved in with one of my best friends, Kairi. They also live with a girl named Xion. Apartment 3B...ah, here it is," Riku explained as he led me to a door on an apartment building's front. I was itching to see my best friend, but I tried to remain calm.

Riku knocked on the door and a girl with jet-black, shoulder-length hair and stunning blue eyes opened the door. A girl with longer, dark brown hair and similar-colored eyes stepped behind her and exclaimed, "Riku! Come in!"

"Is Nami here?" Riku asked, stepping inside. I followed suit. The black-haired girl nodded, and went off to get her. She walked away from the door, down a hallway, where she disappeared inside one of the four doors.

The brown-haired girl came up and introduced herself as Kairi and the black-haired girl as Xion. I smiled and introduced myself in return.

"Who's here to see me, Xion? I was working on homework; this better be important!" I heard a familiar voice complain.

"I don't know who it is, just come look!" Xion said in return.

They walked down the hall, up to us. Nami recognized me immediately, but took no action to confirm to her friends that she knew me.

"N-nami," I stuttered awkwardly. Everyone was staring at the two of us, probably wondering how someone like her knew someone like me. There was an obvious difference between the two of us.

Finally, she broke the silence. She ran into my arms, and I gave her a big hug. I noticed how much different she looked as a fifteen-year-old instead of a child.

"Nami, you know Van," Riku introduced us.

"Yeah, I know...Van," Nami replied, smiling at me. "It's great to see you! What are you doing here?"

Xion and Kairi exchanged glances, which caught Nami's and my attention.

"I think you two need some time to catch up. Go take him to that diner with the really good coffee!" Kairi encouraged.

About an hour and several lattes later, we had learned more about each other. Nami was now dating Riku, who was a year older than her, making him my age. After she had gotten the mirror and changed ages, she had gone to live with Kairi and Xion because Riku's parents' memories of her had been erased. She was aiming to be at the top of her class, and make up for years of lost education.

She also learned that I had sixty-one days to be in the real world, out of the Dark Realm. Today, March 1, was the first day. I went back on May 1. I had earned these two months off after being a faithful servant to Maleficent, or so she thought, for so many years. I planned to spend it with Nami, to try to make up for some of the time she had been alone after I had been forced to join the dark army.

"Is that all, or are you two going to have another coffee?" our server asked.

"That's all. We'll be leaving soon, sorry," Nami replied, smiling politely at her. The server walked away, and Nami gathered her things.

"We really should go," she said, standing up. I nodded, and followed her out of the small diner.

"I guess I'll walk you home and then go to Riku's from there. His parents said I could stay with him until 'my family comes back to Destiny Islands'," I said, staring at my best friend. She still looked so fragile and doll-like and she still had some sort of delicateness to her that just made you want to protect her.

"You should enroll in school, just to see what it's like!" Nami exclaimed, completely changing the subject.

"You're still so spontaneous. It's good to know some things haven't changed," I laughed.

"Just try it!"

"We'll see, okay? Anyways, I need to go now. Bye, Nami! I've missed you!"

"This uniform is so uncomfortable and awkward!" I complained as I was walking to school with Naminé and Riku. Naminé just smiled, mocking me.

"You get used to it, I swear," Riku said. I nodded, hoping he was right. The button-up shirt was so stiff, and the blazer was too thick, even for the end of winter.

"I wonder who he'll become friends with," Naminé said to Riku. "What if he becomes best friends with Axel?"

"I doubt that. Wait...no, I can see that happening," Riku said. He turned to face me directly and said, "At school, you do not repeat the name Hayner. It's sort of taboo. Do not ask why. Just don't mention it; pretend you don't hear it when people say it, okay?"

"What-? Okay," I replied, deciding I would need to take advice.

"Anyways, I'm off." Nami quickly gave Riku a kiss on the cheek and began to walk away. She called behind her, "Good luck!"

"Thanks," I muttered as I was hit with a flashback. Hayner had been in the hospital once, before Namine had even left the Dark Realm. I knew because I had visited him. He had just been hit in the eye with a baseball, but since then, something had happened. Hayner had died. And everyone must have still been reeling from the impact of death. Therefore, they pretended it had never happened. They acted as if everything was okay, to escape the fact that Hayner had died.

In math, I noticed a tenth grader sitting next to me, and she was pretty, but that was not what I noticed. I noticed the sad, distant look in her eyes. I quickly scribbled a note saying, "Hi, I'm new here. What's your name?" folded it, and passed it to her. She stared at the note for the longest time, and I was worried that she would think of me as strange, but eventually, she unfolded it and I watched her eyes scan the page. She slowly grabbed a pen and wrote a reply. She carefully placed it on my desk as if it was an important task that she needed to exceed in.

Her neat, small writing said, "My name's Olette. Yours?"

We continually passed notes throughout the class. She took her time and I tried to be patient and let her. I found out that she did exceptionally well in school, even though she hated it. She found out that I was best friends with Nami and that was supposedly why I had transferred here. The distance never left her eyes, no matter what she was doing - writing a reply or taking notes. She was just very upset.

After class, I was leaving when an eleventh grade brunette approached me. I was surprised to get any attention from anyone so soon.

"You were passing notes with Olette, weren't you?" the girl asked.

"Um, yeah. Who are you?" I replied, very confused.

"My name's Aerith. And you're new, aren't you?" she questioned. I felt like this was an interrogation.

"Yes...why?" I could tell she was beating around the bush, but I really wished she would just get to her point.

"You heard what happened to her, right?"

"No...What?"

"She was Hayner's best friend, and his date to the Valentine's Dance. It's very tragic. Just keep in mind that she is not looking for any guys right now. Anyways, I gotta go. I'll see you around, though!" And with that, Aerith walked away.

_What was with her? Was she trying to keep me away from Olette? What do I do now? Okay, Riku said to ignore Hayner, so I'll do that. I hope that I won't run into her again..._

"Aerith talked to you?" Kairi asked. It was after school, and Riku, Namine, Kairi, Xion, and I were over at the girls' apartment.

"Yeah. Is that a surprise?" I asked, confused.

"Yes. Aerith is popular and downright snotty. She only talks to people in either her social group, or ones she's interested in. And usually, the latter are included in the former. Do you want a soda?" Kairi answered.

"Yeah, thanks. I also talked to Olette. Well, not really. We passed notes. Is that a surprise, too?" I asked, actually wanting to know.

Kairi handed me a Coca-Cola and sat down on one of the two couches in their living room. Namine and Riku turned and stared at me.

"What?" I asked sheepishly, already knowing the answer.

"Oh, um, nothing," Naminé answered, and I could tell she was not supposed to have told me about Hayner.

The five of us continued to discuss my first day of school, but I could tell bringing up Olette had been a bad thing to do. They all seemed a little on edge, which had started when I mentioned Olette. However, I knew they were thinking of Hayner, not her.

Olette began the note-passing conversation the next day. This continued every day, and I was happy. It was an interesting, but nice way to make a new friend. We began going in-depth with our conversations, and by Friday, I knew that we were friends. Aerith also talked to me more often, and had even eaten lunch with me a few times. She kept flirting with me, and I tried to ignore it.

She was growing on me, but so was Olette. And so far, I didn't have a preference. Aerith was not snotty, at least, not around me. She was actually funny and not as high-maintenance as I thought she had been. Shows what happens when you judge a book by its cover.

Olette was a completely different story. However, I finally discovered the truth about her on Friday, after school.

She came up to me, tears streaming down her face. Not knowing what else to do, I opened my arms. She accepted my hug and began crying into my chest as I tried to soothingly rub her back.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, making sure to talk quietly.

"It wasn't an accident. It was not an accident like they all said it was. It was on purpose and I could have stopped it. This is all my fault. I did not pay attention to him. And I hate that I let this happen!" She managed to get out between sobs.

I quickly figured out what she meant. Everyone was pretending it had never happened for a reason. It was not that they cared about him -they probably did not. It was for a different reason.

Aerith's words came back to me. Olette was his best friend, and his date. "She's not looking for any guys right now." She had already lost one too many.

Hayner had committed suicide.

He was dead, and his best friend had to live with the knowledge that she could have stopped it.


	23. Farewell

It's been almost a year since I've updated this fic, and I feel that I have some explaining to do. If you haven't guessed already, I won't be continuing with this story. I've lost all motivation and inspiration, which is part of the reason. Mainly, _I'm ashamed of this story_. I had no plot; I'd begun to write for fun and entertainment purposes, but people seemed to love it, so I continued. I was so happy to receive reviews and PMs from many people. You guys made my day countless times, and I used to look forward to coming on here. I last updated in December of 2012, which is when some personal problems arose. Those were too distracting and overwhelming for me to even think about this story, let alone continue with it. When I finally remembered it again, I went and reread the entire thing and was filled with shame. It's full of poor writing and a nonexistent plot. I had no plans for this story, which is something I now regret. Now, I see no way to continue this story and I'm so sorry.

If you'd like to be up to date on my current writing projects (though they're from a much different fandom, of which you probably aren't fond), PM me and I'll give you a link to my new account.

Thank you to each and every one of you that read, reviewed, favorited, and followed either my story or myself. And thank you to the friends I made on here. I would not have come this far without your support, and I'm sorry that I won't be going any further.

Farewell.


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